4 Delicious Accompaniments for Your Next Curry Dish

It’s essential to serve a starch with curry. You need it to soak up the flavorsome juices of your curry! You can either make bread or rice.

Naan Bread

Many home cooks are intimidated by the thought of making bread, but Naan bread is super easy (and quick) to make. And it’s just what you need to mop up every last drop of curry on your plate. There are of course dozens of naan bread recipes, but we have a simple one for you here:

Combine 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, and ¾ tsp baking powder, and mix well. Add 2 tsp olive oil and ½ cup milk, mixing until a dough ball forms.  Knead the dough on a clean counter for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Rest the dough for 10 minutes and divide into 10 pieces. Roll out each piece to a thickness of about 1/8 inches. Heat a non-stick skillet over a medium heat, and cook the naan on each side until cooked. After taking them out from the pan, brush with butter and sprinkle over salt (optional).

Yellow Rice

You could make a simple white rice, but why not try something fancy? Turmeric rice is just what you need to take your curry to the next level.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a medium-sized pan. Add 2 cloves garlic (crushed), 1 tsp ground turmeric, ¼ tsp cumin, and ¼ tsp ground cinnamon. Fry until the garlic has softened. Add 2 cups of uncooked basmati rice. Cook while stirring, to ensure that the rice is toasted and covered with the seasonings. Add 3 cups chicken stock and 1 bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Once it reached boiling point, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 20 min, keeping it covered. Take off the heat and let it rest for 10 min before fluffing it with a fork.

Coriander Chutney

Chutney is a sweet and spicy sauce, made from fruits, vegetables, and sometimes herbs. It’s very common in Indian cuisine, and you will find that it accompanies most dishes.

Place the following ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth: 1 cup coriander (dhania), 1 cup mint, 7 green chilies (chopped), 1 onion (peeled and chopped), 1 clove garlic (crushed), 3 Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp grated ginger, ½ tsp ground cumin, and ½ tsp salt. In a small pan, heat ¼ cup oil and fry ¼ cup curry leaves until crispy. Serve together with the chutney.

Garlic and Cucumber Raita

Raita is similar to tzatziki and resembles a dip of sorts. Because it’s a dairy-based side, it’s nice to cool down your mouth when eating a very hot curry!

Place a garlic bulb (trimmed) in a glass bowl. Add 2 Tbsp water to the bowl, drizzle over olive oil, and season with salt. Microwave for about 8 min until soft. Mash the garlic and mix in with 2 cups yogurt, 2 cups grated cucumber, 1 tsp ground cumin, and ½ tsp cayenne pepper.

Which one of these yummy sides will you be making first?