The quest for the perfect curry

On New Year's Eve, Tim and I went to dinner at Moghul's (a local restaurant specializing in Indian cuisine). *Shout out to Tim's sister Sara for the gift card to Moghul's*. It was UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING! It was my first experience with "authentic" Indian food. I am officially in love with Indian food! Like, seriously would marry that dish of Chicken Tikka Masala and plate of naan (if I wasn't already married to a spicy dish named Tim of Thee). Tim had some delicious lamb dish that even I enjoyed (since I don't usually like lamb). Since then I've been chasing that high I felt after eating there. The tenderness of that chicken haunts my dreams.

I have tried 2 very different curry recipes in hopes of reliving a glimmer of what I ate at Moghul's. Actually, I just wanted a nice curry to serve with rice and our new favorite side dish Pan-Fried Naan (we made a few adjustments to this recipe but that's a different post for a different day). My first attempt was a simple red curry I found on one of my favorite food blogs: Avocado & Bravado. I substituted chickpeas for the chicken (no reason, just 'cause). I must've done something wrong along the way because it wound up tasting like Curry Marinara. Not what I was hoping for. However, her Butter Chicken recipe looks pretty amazing so I think i'm gonna try that in the near future.

My second attempt came a few days later with a recipe I found at Allrecipes.com claiming it was the Best Curry Recipe Ever (with claims like that I had to give it a try). It tasted good (not GREAT) so I added more curry powder. The flavor was better, but the texture ended up being more paste-y. Once again, not what I was hoping for.

There are a few more recipes that I want to try (plus a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe that desperately needs to be attempted and devoured by me).