Chinese Curry Sauce - free
4cm piece root ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
4 mild, fleshy red chillies, seeds removed and chopped
3 finely chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon chilli powder (optional)
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
125ml water
400ml vegetable stock made with veg or chicken oxo cube
frylight
Method
Heat frylight in wok or pan over a high heat, add onions and stir fry for 3 minutes or until soft but not brown. Add ginger, garlic and chillies and continue stir frying for 30 seconds, then reduce heat to very low and leave to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, but nothing browns.
stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli powder and curry powder and continue cooking very gently for a further 5 minutes - don't burn the spices, or the sauce will taste bitter. Sprinkle on a few drops of water if you are worried. Remove pan from heat, and allow mixture to cool a little.
put water in a food processor or blender and add the contents of the pan, blend until everything is very smooth. Put the puréed mixture back into the pan and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes (the longer the better) over a very low heat, stirring occasionally. Add a little hot water if it starts to catch, but the idea is to gently fry the sauce, so that it darkens in colour to an orangey brown. Once you have a thick paste gradually stir in the stock and simmer until the curry sauce has reduced.
you can add sweetener to taste.
you can add corn flour to thicken if need be, but this will add syns. To avoid this, just cook slower and it should thicken.
this sauce can be used as a base for any kind of curry you fancy, just add meat, onions and peas, fish or just veg.