Curries, mild to fierce
Heat in a curry is a choice, not an accident, and it usually comes from one ingredient you can dial. This list runs from mild to fierce, and each note names where the heat lives so you can turn it down or up before you start. Rice or naan is assumed.
Dal fry
1 of 8
Toor dal soaked and simmered soft, then a tempering of ghee, cumin and mustard seed poured over. One green chilli is the only heat, and it is easy to leave out.
Matar Paneer
2 of 8
Paneer fried until the edges brown, then peas in a tomato and ginger sauce with turmeric, cumin and garam masala. Mild by default; the single green chilli is the dial.
Kidney Bean Curry
3 of 8
A tinned-bean curry built on slowly softened onion, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks with paprika and garam masala. Gentle, cheap, and forgiving of substitutions.
Katsu Chicken curry
4 of 8
Breaded chicken with the Japanese-style sauce of onion, carrot, curry powder, honey and soy. Sweet rather than hot; the curry powder sets the level.
Nutty Chicken Curry
5 of 8
The sauce is a paste of ginger, garlic, coriander and most of a red chilli, thickened with peanut butter and finished with Greek yogurt. Medium, and the chilli is sliced in by hand so you control it.
Massaman Beef curry
6 of 8
Beef, potatoes and roasted peanuts in coconut cream with massaman paste, tamarind and cinnamon. Rich and warm rather than hot; it goes in the oven to braise.
Lamb Rogan josh
7 of 8
Onions cooked until golden, then Madras paste, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves before the lamb and yogurt. The Madras paste carries the heat; a milder paste tames it.
Thai Green Curry
8 of 8
Green curry paste fried before the coconut milk, with chicken, potatoes and green beans. Green paste is the hottest of the Thai pastes, so this one earns its place at the end.