Base sauce for curry

Once you have this sauce, it’s easy to whip up a quick curry. Simply brown your meat or vegetables and pour the defrosted sauce over. Simmer until tender.

Makes: about 1 litre (enough for 6 portions)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

• 2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2-3 chillies, seeded and chopped
• 30ml fresh grated ginger
• 25ml sunflower oil
• 25ml ground coriander
• 25ml ground cumin
• 3ml ground black pepper to taste
• 15ml ground cinnamon
• 20ml ground turmeric
• 25ml fennel seeds
• 5ml ground cardamom
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 3 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 300ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 x 400g can coconut milk
• 25ml garam masala

1 Process the onions, garlic, chillies and ginger in a food processor to make a paste.
2 Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add all the spices except the garam masala. Stir for 30 seconds, then stir in the paste. Stir over the heat for about five minutes.
3 Add the tomatoes, carrots and stock. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Blend until smooth with a stick blender or liquidiser.
4 Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk and garam masala. Season with salt. Cool and freeze in sealed containers.

More ideas
To prepare your curry, first defrost the sauce. Heat a little sunflower oil in a saucepan and brown 1 kg of meat or chicken pieces in batches. Pour the sauce over the meat and simmer for 10 minutes if you are using fillet or one to two hours for stewing cuts. Add a packet of chopped fresh coriander just before serving the dish.