how?-chicken curry?

Well, as with many things in life, there's the easy way and there's the hard way. [] For the weeknights, a jar of Trade Joe's curry simmer sauce will do just fine.

But for the weekends I haul out one of my many Indian cookbooks and get measurin'. I found [linkhttp://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Traditional-Chicken-Curry/Detail.aspx]this recipe[/link] on allrecipes.com (which everyone should know about because it is a great resource) that looks great. I would stay away from any recipe that just calls for "curry powder" (the commerical kind is mostly just turmeric and cumin anyway). This will not yield a result that is much like what you get in restaurants. Go for ones that actually have all the spices listed and added at the proper times, or that show you how to make your own curry paste.

No Trader Joe's around here[] I've heard that it has some really cool stuff but nearest one to me is over 90 miles away. I had a roomate who was half Indian and he cooked the best curry, his mom would ship him ingredients just to cook it. I've never had anything like it and really miss that flavor.

Looks like most recipes I see online ask for the curry powder and are more complicated than I even want to attempt.

Thanks, houndlove, I like that link, I'll have to try it sometime. There are sure a whole lot of ingredients I need for it.

Anyone else have any suggestions, there seems to be several ways to make curry I've never made it before.

Well, you got me again! I'm home now (I'm usually posting from work) and I'm referencing "The Indian Vegetarian" by Neelam Batra. She says that "curry" is  a blanket term in India that refers to any and all dishes that have some kind of gravy or sauce and the english word 'curry' is probably from the southern Indian word 'kar' meaning  'gravy'. And this is her recipe for "Classic Curry Sauce" (slightly abridged and annotated by me):
 
5 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbls fresh ginger
1 large onion chopped into a few pieces
1 large tomato, chopped into a few pieces
1/2 fresh cilantro (which personally I detest in anything except for when it's floating atop thom yum soup for some reason, so if you don't like it, leave it out)
3 tbls oil of some kind (something you can take to a pretty high heat)
------okay ready for all the spices? that's sort of the essence of curry and you can't make it unless you've got a big spice rack-----------------------------
1 tbls ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (and despite the fact that I live in a city with a large South Asian population, and shop frequently at Indian grocers, I've never actually seen this, so I leave it out--doesn't seem to do any harm)
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
------------------------------------that wasn't so bad---------------------------------
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
4 c. water
 
In a food processor or blender, whirl up the garlic, ginger, and onion in one batch, then the tomato and the (gag) cilantro in another batch.
 
Heat the oil in a saucepan over med-high heat and toss in the garlic ginger onion stuff and saute for 2-3 minutes. Take the heat to med-low and continue to saute until it gets all brown and tasty looking. Frankly at this point I like to add a little butter. Your call. After 8-10 minutes add the tomatos and cilantro stuff (gag), and saute that all together for another 8-10 minutes until the water from the tomato evaporates. Then stir in all the spices and the salt and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the yogurt a little at a time, stirring constantly (so it doesn't curdle). Add the water and increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover and boil for another 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the sauce is reduced slightly and looks, well, saucy. 10-15 minutes probably.
 
So, yes, that's kind of involved. BUT this sauce will keep in the fridge for 5 days or it can be frozen for 2-3 months. Just saute up some chicken, dump the sauce all over it and let it simmer for a few minutes and serve it with basmati rice.
 
 

yum I think I might try that this weekend..... haven't had Indian food in ages...

Yes, that does sound yummy. 
 
When my boyfriends parents went on a cruse to Grenada and the Spice Islands they sent us a whole package of spices including a jar of saffron that I've been wanting to use since I got it, that stuff is almost worth its weight in gold here in the US but on the Spice Islands it's almost nothing. It is mainly because I have all thoes spices that I was thinking of making curry or some sort of Indian food.[]

i always thought curry was a spice all its own, is it actully a concoction?

Yep curry is a mixture of differnt spices, if you take a look at different brands of curry in the stores you will see that they often have different spices in them.  I think the only true way tot get the exact flavor your after is to mix your own spices, something I'm experimenting with now[].
 
Oh and thanks again houndlove, I tried it and it worked!  I have curry!  I gave almost everyone around me a little ziplock container of it mixed with chicken becaue I was so proud of myself and wanted to share it.  My stove and table tops are bright yellow now[]  I'm going to make it once more and mix things up a bit, I think I need a little more hot spices for people around here[]