Pudina Curry Recipe
A smooth, refreshing yet indulgent curry featuring the heavy use of fresh mint (Hindi: pudina).
Complementary flavours such as chilli, coriander and lemon juice bring out the minty freshness.A touch of cream or yoghurt adds a little rich roundness, and a squeeze of runny honey added at the end transports this dish into another dimension.
Mint marries with lamb harmoniously so I recommended that combination (see my pre-cooked lamb recipe for how to prepare it), but you could try it with chicken or vegetables instead.
This pudina curry recipe can also be found in my Curry Compendium and Indian Restaurant Curry at Home Volume 2 cookbooks.
Books by Richard Sayce
INGREDIENTS
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3 TBSP (45ml) Oil
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1½ tsp Panch Phoran (see Notes)
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75g Onion, cut into semi-circular slices
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2 tsp Ginger/Garlic Paste
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1 tsp Kasuri Methi
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1¼ tsp Mix Powder
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¼ tsp Chilli Powder (optional)
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¼-½ tsp Salt
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150-200g Pre-cooked Lamb, Chicken, Vegetables, etc.
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330ml+ Base Gravy
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Pudina Paste (see below)
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1 TBSP Lamb Stock (optional, see Notes)
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2 TBSP Single Cream or Full Fat Yoghurt
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Pinch of Garam Masala
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1-1½ TBSP Honey (see Notes)
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1 Cucumber Slice and a few extra
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Mint Leaves to garnish
Pudina Paste
Chop and blend these ingredients
into a smooth paste:
4 TBSP fresh Mint Leaves
1½ TBSP fresh Coriander Stalks
½ fresh Green Chilli
½-1 Garlic Clove
1-1½ tsp Mint Sauce (from a jar)
1 tsp Lemon Juice
A splash of Water to help blending
METHOD
- Prepare the pudina paste (see above) and set aside.
- Add the oil to a frying pan on medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the panch phoran and fry until the black mustard seeds start to pop.
- Add the onion slices. Fry for 1-2 minutes until softened, then add the ginger/garlic paste. Fry until just starting to brown and the sizzling sound reduces, whilst stirring diligently. Don’t let it stick to the pan and burn.
- Next add the kasuri methi, mix powder, salt, and the optional chilli powder.
- Fry for 20-30 seconds, stirring very frequently. If the mixture dries out and sticks to the pan, add a little base gravy (30ml) to avoid burning the spices and give them enough time to cook properly.
- Turn up the heat to high, and mix in the pre-cooked lamb, chicken, etc.
- Now add 75ml of base gravy. Mix and let cook for 30-45 seconds with no further stirring.
- Then add a second 75ml of base gravy, stir into the sauce, and leave on high heat with no further stirring until the sauce is reduced a little, and small, dry craters form around the edges.
- Stir in the pudina paste, 150ml of base gravy, and the optional lamb stock.
- Leave to cook on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Stir and scrape once or twice to mix the caramelised sauce back in, but do this only to prevent the sauce from sticking too much and burning. It’s important to let the sauce adhere to the bottom and sides of the pan, which produces a great flavour.
- Turn the heat to low, and stir in the cream or yoghurt, and a pinch of garam masala.
- Cook for a further minute, adding some extra base gravy near the end of cooking if it appears to be thickening up too much.
- Mix in the honey just before the end.
- Taste and add extra mint sauce, honey, lemon juice and/or salt if desired.
- Serve garnished with a few fresh mint leaves and a slice of cucumber.
Watch the Video
NOTES
- All spoon measurements are level (1 tsp = 5ml, 1 TBSP = 15ml).
- Panch phoran (spelling varies) is a whole seed mixture of fenugreek, fennel, cumin, kalonji (nigella), and black mustard seeds. It can be purchased ready assembled from South Asian food shops and supermarkets.
- Adding lamb stock to this dish (or indeed any meat-based curry) enhances the flavour nicely. Be mindful of how salty the stock is and adjust the salt accordingly when adding it with the spices.
- This pudina curry recipe has been adjusted slightly from the corresponding YouTube video. I have removed the sugar from the paste, and now at the end of cooking add honey which works incredibly well with mint.
