5 'magic' ingredients that will turn a boring cooked curry sauce into an excellent one!

There are many products on the market that can eliminate the hassle of making a curry. You can find jars and cans of prepared sauce everywhere, as well as curry powders and pastes, bags of dry sauce, etc. Most people who use these shortcuts must agree that they can produce an acceptable curry, but they bear little resemblance to curries served at Indian Restaurants. I appreciate that sometimes time can be an important factor and people will find it convenient to open a jar and add it to a saucepan. Occasionally my wife does this and we have found that there are some ways to improve the 'standard' of these 'cheat' curries by 'cheating' a bit more for a restaurant flavor. Here are some tips on how to dress up these 'synthetic' sauces to make them more like a restaurant curry.

Before you begin, make sure you have 5 'magic' ingredients in your arsenal. These are:

1 / Garam Masala (better if it's homemade)

2 / fresh or frozen coriander

3 / A good quality curry paste/powder or homemade curry powder: a simple but effective recipe is to combine 1 part of each cumin powder, coriander seeds, paprika to ¼ part turmeric and chili powder at your own discretion - Combine and screw-top jar into storage.

4 / Garlic and ginger are best fresh, but can be bought minced in jars and can be stored in the refrigerator once opened.

5 / Always have fresh onions in stock.

Optional extras:

6 / Dried fenugreek leaf (purchased from Asian supermarkets or larger stores). This spice added to the curry in the last few minutes will give it the familiar aroma.

7 / Vinegar (any type)

Basic recipe for commercial curry sauces in jars or cans

Before adding meat and sauce to the skillet as directed on the jar, fry one teaspoon minced garlic and ginger in one tablespoon oil for 30 seconds, then add a medium chopped onion and fry for 10 minutes until smooth . Next, add 1-2 teaspoons of curry paste / powder. Here you can add chopped fresh chili or chili powder if you like. Spark this for a couple of minutes, then add the meat / chicken and cook for a few minutes. Now add the jar of sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally and checking that the sauce does not stick to the pan. After about 20 minutes, I suggest removing the lid and simmering the sauce until it thickens, then adding half a teaspoon of garam masala and a pinch of fenugreek powder (optional). Next, add 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice (optional) and simmer for a couple more minutes. Just before serving, add 1-3 teaspoons (or more, especially if frozen) of chopped coriander leaves and stir for an additional minute. You will find that it has greatly improved the curry and given it a fresher, more authentic flavor compared to the 'stiff' flavor it would have gotten.

Curry pastes or powders

I like to use curry pastes. I find that they give good results if used in moderate amounts. What I'm not suggesting is that you use 'half the jar' as suggested on most curry paste labels on the side of the jars - commercial curry pastes are very concentrated and should be used sparingly - one tablespoon is all right! (3 tsp.) To make a good curry with pasta or powder, follow the basic recipe above, but instead of adding the jar of commercial curry sauce, add half a 14-ounce can of plum tomatoes that have been whipped in a blender and a cup of water and follow the recipe in the same way.You can vary this according to your own tastes by adding cream or yogurt towards the end of cooking (if you add yogurt, remove the pan from the heat when stirring or it could curdle, then reheat to slow fire).

Super fast chicken curry

This is a great dinner for 1 or 2 if you have a can of 'chicken in white sauce / supreme chicken' in the closet (or even a can of chicken curry or stewed steak). Fry the garlic, ginger and onion as in the 'basic recipe'. When the onion is soft, add curry paste / powder and fry for a minute or two. Add a cup of water and the can of 'supreme chicken' and simmer gently, stirring (I must confess that it is quite difficult to try not to break the chicken). Add a chopped and peeled tomato and a teaspoon of tomato puree and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens and warms up. Then add the garam masala and the usual ingredients of the 'basic recipe