Secrets Behind Making The Perfect Curry From Scratch At Home Revealed – Including The One Ingredient That Will Make A ‘huge Difference’

There are countless ‘simple’ curry recipes out there, promising results within ’15 minutes’ or using ingredients ‘you already have in your kitchen’ – but they rarely measure up to the authentic, fragrant South Asian dish beloved by Britons for generations.

However, speaking to the Daily Mail, two chefs have revealed their hacks for how to nail the dish at home, without compromising on restaurant-quality flavour.

Maunika Gowardhan and Vivek Singh, founder and CEO of The Cinnamon Collection restaurant group, explained that fancy equipment and convoluted techniques are not needed, as most of it lies in simple basics.

Tips included making sure essential ingredients like onions are taken care of properly, while knowing what temperature to cook different variants of the dish in.

The culinary tricks come amid National Curry Week, which is celebrating the myriad of recipes which can be coined under the term.

Indian cuisine in particular has a special place in the heart of British diners, with around 12,000 curry houses operating throughout the UK. Last year, a separate poll commissioned by Onken found that tikka masala remains a firm favourite among Britons, followed by korma and butter chicken.

Meanwhile, spicier curries like jalfrezi and madras made it into the top 10 curries – but the spiciest of them all, vindaloo, did not.

Depending on the type of flavours you’re after, Maunika and Vivek revealed the important considerations to keep in mind as you do the grocery run…

Curry powder vs curry paste

The base of any good curry begins with either a curry powder made from a blend of ground spices, or a curry paste made from fresh ingredients.

Whether you use one over the other depends on the type of curry you’re looking to make. For most beginners, curry powder is the way to go, Maunika told the Daily Mail.

The chef, who recently published a new book titled Curry dedicated to the dish, said: ‘Curry powder is usually a blend of ground chilli, turmeric, and garam masala, and these give the dish warmth, heat and depth of flavour.’

There are some instances in which a paste can add a rich, velvety texture to the gravy – such as in Maunika’s vegan mushroom and green pea curry, which uses a paste made from cashew nuts to add creaminess.

When using powder, Maunika advised using a small amount to start with and build flavour as you cook. ‘You can always add to the curry but you can’t take away,’ she explained.

‘Start with a quarter or half a teaspoon of your spice mix, and taste as you cook. If you think it needs more later on, then you can add to it, but a little does a long way as long as your spices are fresh.’

To start cooking your curry, first temper any whole spices you may be using, such as cumin seeds, by adding them to medium-hot oil first to bring out their aroma and flavour.

Then, add your spice mix in a bowl with around two tablespoons of water to create a paste. This ensures that, when you add the paste to the hot oil, your ground spices do not burn – a mistake many people make when cooking curry at home.

When buying ground spices, Maunika and Vivek advised against being tempted to buy large bags of spices even though they may be cheaper.

‘Unless you’re cooking a curry every other day, you probably won’t get through the whole bag and the spices won’t stay fresh,’ Maunika said.

Vivek added: ‘Ground spices have a shelf life of around six months, so for most people, the small packets or jars you can get in the supermarket are more than enough.’

Pay attention to your onions

Both Maunika and Vivek emphasised the importance of paying attention to how your onions are cooked, as they will affect the end result.

Vivek said: ‘Whether they are sliced, diced, chopped, or blended, the onions make a huge difference to the end result of your curry.

‘Always start with a medium heat, never high or you risk burning your onions and spices.

The longer you cook your onions and the darker they get, the more they will impact the flavour of the curry.’

Adjusting spice levels

One of the best things about making a curry from scratch is the ability to adjust how spicy it is to your liking.

In order to do so, Maunika’s advice was to pay attention to your fresh ingredients – such as ginger, chillies, coriander and mint.

‘These add zing and heat to the dish, and the more you add, the spicier it will be,’ she explained.

However, if you’re serving a group of people with varying spice tolerance levels, Maunika recommended making a side dish that will allow everyone to add – or abstain from – spiciness according to their preference.

The chef remarked: ‘I like to make a dish of crushed green chillies and salt that anyone who wants more heat can add to their own plate.’

But what if you’ve accidentally added too much spice to your curry and you can’t handle the heat? There are a couple of fixes for that.

‘You can add boiled crushed potatoes to a too-hot curry. They do a good job at both absorbing salt, if you’ve oversalted a dish, and absorbing some of the spiciness too,’ Maunika recommended.

‘Alternatively, just add a bit more of all the other ingredients. This helps to temper the curry’s spice levels. Adding more coconut milk will also help mellow it out.’

Choosing your ingredients

Indian curries usually make use of chicken, lamb, seafood like fish or prawns, paneer, and vegetables.

Vivek is a fan of chicken thighs on the bone, which he said adds ‘so much flavour’, or lamb shoulder when cooking with meat.

Some curries benefit from being cooked low and slow over a long period of time, but a quick curry is easy to achieve if time isn’t on your side.

‘Using thin slices of chicken and stir frying them to cook them quickly adds to a midweek dinner that takes hardly any time at all,’ he advised.

‘Paneer or vegetable curries can also be made in a short space of time. A dry curry, which is a curry that doesn’t have a lot of gravy but still coats all the ingredients, is also popular for a quick and easy meal.’

Maunika added that she likes to have frozen prawns that have been peeled and deveined in the freezer at all times.

‘They are perfect for curries in a hurry because they are already prepared without you having to faff around and they also cook really quickly,’ she said.

Try Maunika Gowardhan’s Creamy Chicken Curry with Ground Almonds, Yoghurt, Cardamom and Fenugreek

SERVES 4

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) skinless bone-in chicken, jointed and cut into medium pieces
• 300 ml (11¼ fl oz/11⁄3 cups) water
• 1 tablespoon fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi), crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
• juice of ½ lemon
• salt

For the badam paste

• ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 6 green cardamom pods (seeds only)
• 4 cloves
• 12.5 cm (1 inch) cinnamon stick, halved
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 300 g (10½ oz) onions, thinly sliced
• 50 g (1¾ oz) blanched almonds (if you have almonds with skin, soak them in warm water for 30 minutes to remove the skins)
• 2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 5 cm (2 inch) piece of fresh ginger root, roughly chopped
• 150 ml (5 fl oz/scant 2⁄3 cup)
• Water

First, make the badam paste. Put the peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaves into a large dry frying pan and toast over a medium heat for 5 minutes, swirling the pan regularly as their aroma releases. Remove the spices from the pan and set aside.

Heat the oil in the same frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Fry for 25–30 minutes, stirring often, until golden brown. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.

Now put the almonds, toasted spices, fried onions, yoghurt, garlic, ginger and water into a food processor and blend to a smooth, fine paste.

Transfer the paste to a large bowl and add the turmeric, chilli powder and ground coriander. Stir well, then add the chicken and coat in the marinade. Cover and marinate for 1 hour, or preferably overnight in the refrigerator.

When you’re ready to cook, heat a large non-stick saucepan over a medium heat, add the chicken pieces and any leftover marinade and cook for 10 minutes, stirring well with a spatula and scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Now reduce the heat to low, pour in the water, season with salt, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Once cooked, the gravy will be creamy and slightly thickened. Add the fenugreek leaves and simmer for 2–3 minutes, then finish with the coriander and lemon juice. Stir well and then serve.

Extracted from Curry by Maunika Gowardhan (Quadrille, £26) Photography © Haarala Hamilton