I love a good curry, but there's nothing I love more than making it myself, from scratch. It can be very daunting to think about making such a complex dish with no pastes or pre-made sauces, but in reality if you have a good stock of spices in your cupboard, it's super easy and quick to make it yourself.
This is my spice collection, which has taken quite a while, and a bit of dollar to build up, but now I can pretty much look up any recipe and have the spices and herbs I need to make it. Which makes cooking dinner on a whim a lot easier!
For a classic curry dish I am using the following:
2 teaspoons of chilli powder (use less if you don't like it hot)
1 teaspoon paprika
4 cloves
4 cardamoms
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon mace powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon fennel powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoons turmeric
As well as these spices you will need:
4 cloves of garlic
Stewing lamb or meat of choice
100ml full fat yoghurt
Tinned tomatoes
1 onion
Your choice of veg!
The good thing about this recipe is that the meat does not need to marinate, or cook in the spices, which means you can use pre-cooked meat (i.e. leftovers from your Sunday Roast like me!). If you haven't got any, then boil your meat with the garlic and some salt for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, skim off the gross stuff and set aside.
Now make a paste with the chilli powder and paprika and a little water.
Now fry your onion in oil. While you're doing this get your cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves and mace and grind it all together in a pestle and mortar. If you don't have one just crush it all in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin!
Now add the mixture to the onions, then add the coriander, fennel, ginger and turmeric, the chilli paste you made earlier and a splash of water!
Now add your meat and stir on a high heat for 5 minutes to heat it through.
Now lower the heat and add the yoghurt and stir well. Add your choice of veg, I'm using yellow peppers and courgette. Carrots, spinach, mushrooms and potatoes would also go well.
Now add tinned tomatoes and salt to taste. Cover and turn up the heat slightly to simmer until your meat is soft and veg cooked.
To cook your rice there are 6 simple steps:
Fill half a cup/mug per person with rice and add to a pan
Add a full cup of cold water per person to the pan
Salt and bring to the boil
Once boiling cover then turn down the heat as low as possible for 15-20 mins
Turn off the heat and do not remove the lid for another 5 or 10 minutes
Serve perfectly cooked sticky rice!
Serve with a tall cold beer and enjoy!