Curry is a special food spice used in cooking. This Indian originated variety of food helps to sustain a healthy heart condition, and also maintains a low blood sugar level.
Curry is prepared from a specialized combination of herbs like ground turmeric, cumin, ginger, coriander, and chilies. It can also be used for seasoning.
The flavor and sweetness curry adds to your cooking is unmatched. The choice of what and how to use curry in your cooking is so vast that you would want to purchase and conserve a lot in the house for immediate usage.
If you get a sale on curry at the retail store, and you decide to take advantage of that and buy in bulk to save you stress and time of going to the store every time, how do you preserve the excess amount you just acquired?
Can you freeze curry? Yes, you can. Curry can be kept frozen for about 3 months before the quality and flavorful taste starts declining. You should be careful when you freeze your different forms of curry. It is not advisable to freeze curry containing light cream or yogurt as it splits and separates easily in the freezer.
The flavor, taste, and seasoning power of curry allows it to be used to spice your soup, stew, marinades, meat, sauces, and vegetables.
What Type of Curry Freezes Best?
The content and ingredients used in preparing your curry will determine how well it freezes in your freezer.
Curry that has coconut cream as one of its ingredients does not freeze well. They separate if you leave them frozen for a long time and lose their quality as time passes.
Paneer curry, curry powder, curry paste, and vegetable curry freezes well without any change to their quality, flavor, and taste.
How to Freeze Curry
Freezing curry does not require stress and special equipment, though, you should be meticulously careful while freezing your curry to make it suitable for its intended use.
Curry can either be homemade or bought from a convenience store. To freeze your curry, you would need airtight freezer bags, a marker, and a regulated freezer temperature.
Step 1: Cool Your Curry
Allow your just prepared curry to cool down to room temperature before freezing. Putting hot food in the freezer can change the air composition in your freezer, which can be risky to the health of other food in the freezer.
You should not allow your curry to stay out for more than 2 hours, as this can lead to bacteria growth.
Step 2: Portioning Your Curry
Homemade curry is usually prepared in large quantities. Thawing the curry for cooking can be stressful as you would need to bring out the whole bowl. To prevent the curry from losing its quality from constant thawing and refreezing, divide your curry into portions and place them into airtight freezer bags.
To improve the chance of your curry retaining its taste, remove as much air from it before closing and double the freezer bags.
Step 3: Storage
Storing your curry separately makes it easy for you to use the curry just for what you need it for, you would not need to thaw the whole batch. You just pick the one you need.
To remember what is in each freezer bag, label them with your marker. This will enable you to know the contents of each bag, the date of freeze, its concentration.
You can also store your curry in plastic freezer containers. They are sturdy, reusable, and protect the curry well in the freezer. However, turmeric in curry could stain your container.
Step 4: Freezing Your Curry
While placing your curry in the freezer, seal the freezer bag well and make sure it is not placed where the bag can be punctured. Place the curry lying flat in the freezer, and press it flat for thickness. Thick frozen curry is easy to thaw for consumption.
Freeze your curry at a regulated temperature. Your curry would be preserved and left in a good condition when you freeze it in this manner.
How to Defrost Frozen Curry
To use your curry for cooking or to spice delicacies after freezing, you have to thaw it to get the best experience. Defrosting your curry is as easy as freezing it and there are several ways you can go about it.
The best method to thaw curry is to allow it to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. This method prevents the curry from reaching a high temperature that accommodates bacterial growth which is unhealthy for the human body.
You can also defrost your curry by allowing it to thaw at room temperature for not more than 2 hours. This method would require you to use the curry immediately after thawing.
A faster way to thaw your curry for consumption is by heating it on a stovetop or microwave. The stovetop takes longer to thaw than the microwave. To use your microwave, remove your curry in its frozen state from the freezer and place it in a microwave-safe container, then heat it for 10 to 20 seconds.
You should allow your microwave-thawed curry to cool off before using it. Do not leave your defrosted curry out for a long period, leaving it can accommodate bacteria, changing the taste and unsuitable for consumption.
How to Recognize Spoiled Curry
To know if your curry has become unfit for consumption, heat it. Rub the heated curry between the tip of your thumb and index finger. Gently separate the fingers to see if the curry draws. If the curry ‘draws’, it has gone bad and it is unsuitable for consumption.
Spoiled food is bad for the well-being of your health. If you discover that your food item has gone bad, you should throw it out.