Your best curry recipe please

[DaisyMaisyJessicaEmily]

I've never made a curry from scratch (ie not just curry powder/paste) I have chicken, some left over potatoes and some spinach to put in but google has sooooo many recipes I don't know where to start!

I have garlic, ginger, cinnamon,cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, chilli powder and dried chilli flakes, turmeric.

help!

My favourite recipe is go to Lidl and buy a lovely big jar of Korma Sauce for 79p. Is that the kind of thing you were after? .

Not exacccccctly

I cook curries all the time, but so many that it's hard to recommend a favourite.
this site is really worth a look though.
We're having two Sri Lankan dishes this evening (not from that site) and pickled okra.
I don't own a dedicated curry book yet, but have made several good curries from HFW's veg everyday and Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey.
I also like the curries from Jamie's Ministry of Food.

damnit! Should have checked back before I started - have just gone mad and thrown a bit of everything in, it should be ok shouldn't it?? Have got some cream ready to take it down if necessary!

Will check them out thanks!

My favorite is marinate chicken in yougurt ans spices. Then sweat down two or three big onions for ages, add Tom puree, dash soy sauce and same spices. Blitz.add your now roasted marinated chicken and plenty of yoghurt. It's gorgeous and diet friendly too.

My basic tomatoey curry sauce goes like this

Oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
salt
chilli flakes to taste (or fresh chilli)
Finely chopped onion (occasionally garlic)
small piece root ginger peeled and finely chopped
Chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh ones that have been skinned)

1. Heat the oil in a broad-based saute pan
2. Add the whole seeds and cook until they sizzle and pop
3. Now add the onion, ginger (and garlic if using) and stir fry with the seeds until softened
4. Add ground spices, salt and chilli flakes... Cook a little to combine
5. Add tomatoes and simmer until the flavours are well combined and the sauce is thickened

To that you can add pretty much anything. Chicken & Spinach, Chickpeas and Red Peppers, Mushrooms are lovely on their own, Cauliflower and Potatoes.

Finally, when everything is done turn off the heat, allow to cool a little and stir in a good spoonful of plain yoghurt, a decent pinch of garam masala and some freshly chopped coriander. Serve immediately.

oooh does garam masala go in at the end like a salt and pepper thing then? oops, just wanged it in at the start

Just had a stir, almost blew my head off with the fumes! oops again

SinicalSanta, blitz the whole lot, onions etc not just spices? is that why i never see bits of onion in a takeaway curry cause they blitz them?

Yes blitz the whole lot. The longcooking time mellow s out the onions, and they become the base of the sauce. You wont reek of onion! By long cooking time I mean fifteen mins in oil with lid on, til squidgy. ( technical term)

interesting.... thank you :)

Someone on my FB has recommended a book called Takeaway Secrets - anyone used that?

I have that book..... Will have a look.

Garam masala is an 'aromatic' spice blend and you lose a lot of the effect by cooking it. Sprinkled on at the end it keeps its flavour.

So many spices that I don't have..... Easier to buy a jar!

I have that book, but so far have only tried the donner kebabs from it.
I wasn't really inspired by it, as I like a big book with pictures that I can prop open in my kitchen, but BlackAffronted has blogged about a few dishes, here

I love my Takeaway Sercrets book :D

I have to say thought, I prefer the basic curry sauce from Mamta's Kitchen than the one in the Takeaway Secrets book.

ooh bookmarked that blog, thanks :)

we like lots of the curries from the Anjum Annand books