Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

07th October 2013

According to a study carried out by Food Network UK, the nation’s second favourite dish (after Chinese stir-fry) is chicken tikka masala. Nine out of ten of the 2,000 Brits surveyed said that their favourite international meal was Asian. So National Curry Week, running from 7th to 13th October, seems like the kind of culinary event most of us will want to get involved in. Forget those jars of curry sauce; the best way to start a curry is with your own homemade curry paste – literally zinging with flavour and freshness.

Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

07th October 2013

Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

07th October 2013

A good curry paste is pretty easy to make and you can keep it in the fridge for six weeks if you make a big batch to see you through many curries. The curry pastes you buy in the supermarket may seem like the height of convenience but they’re usually packed with salt and sugar, and with home-made curry paste ready in a few minutes there’s no need to turn to the jar if you’re in a hurry. With your own curry paste, you get to choose the ingredients and adapt them to your family’s tastes.

This is the season for spicy foods to warm the cockles after enjoying the autumn days.

Here’s a simple recipe for a curry paste you can use again and again:
3 tbsps coconut oil
2 tsps ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sea salt
Chilli flakes/seeds/powder to your family’s tastes (experiment and taste as you go along)
In a pestle and mortar, add the oil and all the spices and salt before mixing together, crushing the cumin seeds. Heat in a pan to begin cooking the onion, garlic and ginger of a curry, or decant to a clean jar to store in the fridge.

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