How to Make a Great Curry

This is my own chicken curry recipe. This recipe has developed over the last ten years on my quest to make the ultimate curry. It is not quite there yet, but I'm sure that if you are a curry lover like me you can easily adapt this recipe to your own taste. In this recipe I have used Pataks curry paste. If this is not available then any equivalent curry paste will do.

Ingedients
2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into approx. 1 inch pieces
1 Medium onion finely chopped
3 Cloves of garlic chopped
1 inch of grated ginger.
3/4 pint of chicken stock
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee
2 Tablespoons Pataks Madras Curry Paste
1 Tablespoon Pataks Korma Curry Paste
1 Tin 450g of chopped tomatoes
quarter teaspoon hot chilli powder
half teaspoon concentrated tomato puree
salt to taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped creamed coconut
Fresh corriander

Heat oil in a large pan and fry the onions until they become soft and transparent. Be careful not to burn them as this will ruin the flavour of your curry and means that you will have to start over.
It is important that you get this stage right. It will take ten to fifteen minutes to cook your onions correctly. When the onions are cooked you can then add the ginger and garlic to the pan. Again watch that the heat is not too high. Fry the garlic and ginger for about one minute. You are the ready to add your curry paste.

Add the curry paste and fry in the oil for about another minute. If the curry paste starts to stick to the pan you can add a small amount of water, giving it a stir. Add the chicken to your cooked spices and fry until the chicken has turned white,stirring occasionally. This will allow the spices to be absorbed into the chicken. Add the tomato puree and stir again. Cook for a further minute.

Add the tomatoes and stir until the sauce starts to thicken and bubble to the surface. This should be done at a medium heat. Slowly add the chicken stock a bit at a time while constantly stirring. You can use a chicken stock cube for this and it helps if this has been freshly made and is still hot to boiling. Now add salt to taste.

At this stage your curry sauce will be quite thin and runny,almost like a soup. Don't worry as it will soon thicken. Bring the curry to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. I have found that the longer and slower that the sauce is cooked, the better that it will taste. I normally let mine simmer for about an hour with the lid off. Make sure that curry does not stick to the bottom of your pot by stirring it now and again.

The last step is to add the creamed coconut to the curry. Stir in and cook for a further five minutes. This will cause the curry to thicken. If it is too thick then add some water to get your desired consistency. Finish your curry off by adding some fresh chopped coriander.