Name: Best Curry Sauce Recipe
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 6 onions (chopped); mild olive oil (or vegetable oil); 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped); 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (finely chopped); 1 cinnamon stick; 1 tablespoon garam masala; ½ teaspoon paprika; ½ teaspoon coriander; ½ teaspoon 7 spice; ¼ teaspoon turmeric; ¼ teaspoon cayenne or red chilli; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon cumin; ¼ teaspoon fenugreek powder (optional); 1-2 red chillis depending on preferred spice; 6-8 tomatoes (chopped); 1 teaspoon tomato concentrate; ½ cup ground cashews; 2-3 tablespoons of butter

This is my signature curry sauce recipe and it's so versatile you can make it with either chicken, prawns or fish.

After Lebanese cuisine, my other big culinary love is Indian food, as when it's done right it is sensational.

Even though we have amazing curry houses here in London, and i've had the best curries in Kerala, I still love to make my own from scratch.

Now this is somewhere between a butter chicken sauce recipe and a tikka masala based on its vibrant red colour.

My Bengali friend Nadia was the one who made me realise the importance of onions in making a curry.

She told me we use loads and loads of onions in our cooking, and that's when I understood why her mum's curries were so delicious.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Variations
Top Tips
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Ingredients

The different components of a good curry are:

Onions, garlic, ginger - for the base
Spices - see notes below
Tomato sauce - can be fresh tomatoes or canned
Cashews or coconut cream - for creaminess
Herbs - a handful of cilantro and a little for garnish

Spices scare so many people but really they don't have to.

You need 1 big tablespoon of your general spice mix such as garam masala or tandoori and then you complement that with smaller spoons of other spices.

So I will always add ¼ teaspoon of strong spices such as turmeric, red chilli, cumin, fenugreek...

....and I will usually add ½ teaspoon of milder spices such as paprika, coriander, black pepper.

I will also add a cinnamon stick in the sauce to give a hint of flavour meaning it is not too overpowering.

Fresh herbs such as cilantro (fresh coriander) I will add near the end, around five minutes before turning off the heat.

Ground spices will give the curry warmth and flavour whereas fresh chillis will give you that burning at the back of the throat, so use both

I only use 1 red chilli because i'm a spice wuss, but you can of course use more.

I prefer to use ground cashews to add that nutty creamy flavour but you can also use coconut cream or single cream.

For some reason I don't like adding yoghurt to my curries as it doesn't give me the right flavour profile.

Instructions

If you are making this with chicken, then add a smaller amount of the spices to the marinade and leave for a few hours in the fridge, overnight ideally.

Step 1: Cook the onions on low heat for around half an hour, sautéing often. Add spices

Step 2: Prepare your chicken or prawns

Step 3: Add the tomato sauce and ground cashews to the onions and blitz

Step 4: Add the protein and garnish with cilantro and flaked almonds

Variations

You can make different versions of this curry by changing a few things:

Butter chicken - add ½ teaspoon of fenugreek and two tablespoons of butter near the end to enhance that buttery flavour
Vegetables - add potatoes, mushrooms or even baby corn for more texture
Cream - add a little coconut cream or single cream at the end for a milder flavour

Top Tips

A good curry should take around an hour to make as you don't want to rush the onions.

I've written a whole section on why getting onions is so important in my very popular e-book!

I always freeze the extra curry sauce to take out and heat up when the kids are hungry after school.

You can keep the curry in the fridge for up to 3 days.

I love to garnish the curry with a little cilantro and flaked almonds for a beautiful finish.

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