South Island Kitchen

The Curry Secret

The Curry Sauce

This is the most closely guarded of all the secrets of restaurant cooking.

Once prepared, it has a very smooth texture and a pale golden colour. Taste it and it is pleasant with a subtle curry flavour. Every good restaurant has a large pan of the sauce always at hand, with the recipe varying only slightly from chef to chef. It forms the base of all the restaurant curries, from the very mild to the very hot and spicy. It will keep in a refrigerator for up to five days, although the best restaurants will prepare no more than three days’ requirement in one go. Together with your spices, the prior preparation of the curry sauce, and whatever meat or fish you propose to use, a selection of dishes can be made in a matter of minutes.

You will see that the making of the curry sauce is in fact simple, with no special equipment required other than a blender. It is essential, though, that you follow strictly the instructions for blending and skimming as these are the two procedures that can make the difference between a good curry sauce and a poor one.

The quantities I have given are enough for six to eight people. If you do not require so much, you may halve the quantity of each ingredient, or alternatively freeze the remainder of the finished sauce. I have included freezing instructions where applicable. Although Indian restaurants do not normally do this, it is a perfectly good way of taking advantage of your freezer at home.

How to Make the Curry Sauce

For approximately 8 main course dishes
Preparation and cooking time: about 1½ hours

Ingredients

  • 2 lb (900 g) onions
  • 2 oz (50 g) fresh ginger
  • 2 oz (50 g) garlic
  • 2½ UK pints (3 US pints / 1.57 litres) water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tin (8 oz / 225 g) tomatoes
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp tomato purée
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp paprika

Method

Stage 1

  1. Peel and rinse the onions, ginger, and garlic. Slice the onions and roughly chop the ginger and garlic.
  2. Put the chopped ginger and garlic into a blender with about 1 to 1½ UK cups (1 US cup / 275 ml) of the water and blend until smooth.
  3. Take a large saucepan and put into it the onions, the blended garlic and ginger, and the remainder of the water.
  4. Add the salt and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to very low and simmer, with the lid on, for 40–45 minutes.
  5. Leave to cool.

Stage 2

  1. Once cooled, pour half of the boiled onion mixture into a blender and blend until perfectly smooth. Absolute smoothness is essential. To be certain, blend for at least 2 minutes.
  2. Pour the blended onion mixture into a clean pan or bowl and repeat with the other half of the boiled mixture.
  3. Wash and dry the saucepan.
  4. Reserve about 4 tablespoonfuls of the sauce at this stage to use in cooking the chicken (page 49) and lamb (page 65).

Freezing: best done at this stage.

Stage 3

  1. Open the can of tomatoes, pour into the rinsed blender jug, and blend until perfectly smooth (about 2 minutes).
  2. Into the clean saucepan, put the oil, tomato purée, turmeric, and paprika.
  3. Add the blended tomatoes and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
  4. Now add the onion mixture to the saucepan and bring to the boil again. Reduce the heat to keep the sauce at a simmer.
  5. Skim off the froth that rises to the surface.
  6. Keep simmering and skimming for 20–25 minutes, stirring now and again to prevent sticking.

Use immediately or cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Chicken Dishes

The Right Equipment

A restaurant chef always uses a large frying pan with deep sides (approximately 4 inches or 10 cm) for cooking curries. This ensures a large amount of food is in contact with the hot surface at one time and provides a wide area for evaporation. Not only does this speed up cooking, but it also allows more rapid thickening of sauces without overcooking the meat, fish, or vegetables. If you do not have such a pan, use a large enough saucepan to achieve the same benefits.

How to Prepare the Chicken

For our curries we have always used only breast portions of chicken cooked in a special way. Some restaurants use the whole chicken, but their methods of boiling and removing the flesh from the bones can leave an unwanted boiled taste and some less savoury bits of meat in the finished dish. I strongly recommend following my method, as the end result is worth it — the chicken is extremely tender.

Preparation and cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6–8

Ingredients

  • 5 large chicken breasts (approx. 2 lb / 900 g, skin and bone removed)
  • 6 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 4 tbsp reserved curry sauce, prepared to the end of Stage 2 (page 20)

Method

  1. With a sharp knife remove all fat and membranes from the chicken portions and cut each into 8 equal-sized pieces. Wash and drain.
  2. Place the oil, turmeric, and curry sauce into a large saucepan and mix well.
  3. Cook on a medium heat, stirring continuously until the sauce starts to darken in colour (about 4–5 minutes).
  4. Add the chicken and stir until all pieces are well coated with the sauce.
  5. Turn down the heat and continue cooking with the lid on for 15–20 minutes, or until the chicken is tender, stirring frequently.
  6. Remove the chicken pieces (leaving behind the sediment) and place in a clean container.

The cooked chicken can now be used immediately in curries or cooled and refrigerated for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 2 months.

How to Make the Curries

Once you have the sauce, making curries is extremely easy.

In all the following recipes I have allowed for 3–4 servings. If you have frozen half of the sauce and chicken after following my recipes, your next Indian meal will be as quick and simple as going to your favourite restaurant. If you wish to cater for twice this number, use the full quantity of sauce — enough for up to eight main dishes.

Do not reduce the amount of oil during cooking; if necessary, skim excess from the finished curry. Oil is essential to bring out the flavour of the spices and create the right sauce texture.

Restaurants often use food colourings (red and yellow) to give dishes their expected appearance, though they do not affect flavour. You may substitute natural colourings (e.g. paprika or turmeric) or omit them altogether, but be aware that some traditional dishes, such as tandoori chicken or chicken tikka masala, are strongly associated with specific colours.

Chicken Bhuna Masala

This spicy dish is a firm favourite. (Spicy does not necessarily mean hot!)

Serves: 3–4
Preparation and cooking time: 15–20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 oz (50 g) mushrooms
  • ½ green capsicum (bell pepper)
  • 6 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 UK cups (2 US cups / 15 fl oz / 425 ml) curry sauce (page 20)
  • 1 lb (450 g) chicken, cooked as on page 49
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp chilli powder
  • 1 green chilli, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp red food colouring
  • 1½ tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves, ground
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

Method

  1. Wash the mushrooms and capsicum and slice thinly. Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan, add the sliced vegetables, and fry for 4–5 minutes on a medium heat.
  2. Add the curry sauce, chicken, salt, chilli powder, green chilli, and food colouring. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
  3. Reduce the heat slightly, stir in the garam masala, ground cumin, and fenugreek, and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Spoon off any excess oil and serve sprinkled with fresh coriander.