The Best Curry You Will Ever Make At Home
I am a curry fiend. I love the stuff but have spent years poring over recipe after recipe that just doesn't turn out like the little foil tubs of wonderment from my local takeaway. If you're the same, take heart! I have finally found the ultimate authentic curry recipe to make at home.
I say finally... I originally found it back in 2009 when the Observer Food Monthly published a special edition featuring chefs' favourite recipes. This 'home style chicken curry' was shared by Benares founder Atul Kochhar and it changed my homemade curry world overnight. I subsequently moved house and lost the mag, but when we moved to our current flat two years ago, it dropped out of a book as we were unpacking. I admit there may have been a yelp of joy at its return!
There are a lot of dried spices in this, but they're not expensive to buy and last for ages. They're all available in normal supermarkets and I honestly think it's worth getting them all as the combo is the key to the authentic flavour. As with all recipes it's open to tweaks, I prefer my curry a little less dry than the original recipe which suggested just fresh tomatoes, so I use fresh and tinned. I find it works best with leftover lamb or fresh chicken, but you could put whatever you like in, just remember to tweak the cooking time accordingly.
This isn't a spicy curry so I tend to add fresh chilli or dried chilli flakes on top of the chilli powder for an extra heat hit. I also adore saag curries so I add spinach (and sometimes mushrooms and/or green peppers) - it just depends what you like.
As long as you stick to the main spices, you're laughing. As Atul Kochhar himself says in the article: 'You can't go wrong cooking this unless you leave the pot on the stove and go on a long vacation'.
One other thing - if you like me are not a fan of the odd crunchy fragrant mouthful, remember to fish out the 4 cardamom pods, 1 bay leaf and any large bits of cinnamon stick just before serving. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
THE BEST CURRY YOU'LL EVER MAKE AT HOME
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 tsp oil
1 bay leaf
* 4 green cardamom pods
* 2.5cm cinnamon stick
* 10-12 black or green peppercorns
* 1 tsp cumin seeds
* 2 cloves
250g onions, sliced
1/2 tsp garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
** 1 tsp chilli flakes or half a fresh chilli
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt
100g fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
** 150g / half a can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
600g boned meat, diced - this could be lamb, chicken, beef or even prawns or fish
** 200g spinach (fresh or frozen)
** 100g button mushrooms, halved
** 1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ginger - powdered or finely chopped if using fresh
a handful of fresh coriander to garnish, chopped
* These ingredients all need to be pounded together in a pestle & mortar, or if you don't have one put them in a plastic bag or between two sheets of clingfilm and bash with a rolling pin
** optional
To serve:
200g basmati rice
popadums and chutneys
naan bread
Method:
Heat the oil in the pan, add the bay leaf and pounded spices and stir until they crackle and change colour. Add the onions and saute until golden, then add the garlic. Keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent the mix burning.
Add the powdered spices (EXCEPT garam masala and ginger) and mix quickly to prevent burning.
Add the salt, fresh tomatoes and tomato paste and lower the heat, stirring slowly. As the tomatoes melt to form a sauce, add the meat, and chopped tomatoes, green pepper and mushrooms if using.
Cook on a slow heat for 10 minutes if using cooked meat, or 25 minutes if using fresh meat.
Meanwhile cook the rice.
In the last 5 minutes, add the spinach so it wilts into the mix, sprinkle over the garam masala and ginger and bring the heat back up.
As you serve, sprinkle over the fresh coriander.
