My favorite food is a curry, but I am very particular about my curry.
Curry should be thickened, not watery, so Indian curry is right out. The curry should have a smooth caramelized look and drip slowly off a spoon with a consistency similar perhaps to a slightly watered molasses, for a reference point when judging whether it is properly thick or not, or perhaps too thick.
It should not look starchy like normal stews, so no potatoes (carrots are fine though). A curry needs lots of onions. All vegetables should be diced--yes, the onions will probably melt away. If there is meat in the curry, it must be chopped finely in little pieces with as much fat cut off as possible. The fat ruins the broth.
If it is beef, it should probably have been stewed for a few hours at least so that it just melts in your mouth.
If you aren't going to use your own curry powder and thickening agent, then you'd better use a lot of curry blocks, or less water than you normally would. Mixing in tomato soup stock is optional, and amazing.
You should also let it sit in the refrigerator overnight before letting anyone even taste it. This will give the flavor of the broth time to seep into its other ingredients.
Nobody prepares curry for me, but when I prepare it, people line up to eat it.
I am very particular about my curry.
