This post will be short and sweet (and coconutty and delicious). I’ve been trying for 3 years to cook a curry at home which tastes like a British Indian takeaway tikka masala. I’ve tried countless recipes and have always ended up a little underwhelmed. “What is your secret!” I ask each time we frequent one of our favourite curry houses.
Well, I’ve finally cracked it! The trick to making a British Indian curry (or BIR curry) is a homemade base curry sauce. In essence, you are making two recipes and combining them. While it does seem like a lot of work, once you have a batch of base curry you can freeze this in bags (I do mine in 300ml and 600ml portions) so that in future you can make curries much faster. You can also use this base curry sauce for nearly any curry (madras, vindaloo, korma, tikka, jalfrezi, ect) and for many other Indian side dishes such as saag chana.
So without further ado… my recipe for the ultimate BIR tikka masala!
*as I’m vegetarian I omit the chicken but of course this can be added, or you can use Quorn chicken but honestly I love this sauce so much I could drink it and prefer simply this delicious sauce over rice. If you want it to be as red in colour as in Indian restaurants you can add red food colouring powder which is what they use to get the bright red colouration.
ULTIMATE BIR TIKKA MASALA SAUCE
2 chef spoons coconut flour (approx. 9 tbsp.)
1 chef spoon ground almond (approx. 4 tbsp.)
½ chef spoon sugar (approx. 2 tbsp.)
600ml curry base
2 cups masala paste (approx. 500ml)
Optional: 1-2 tbsp. single cream for garnish
Fresh Coriander
Dry fry the coconut flour, ground almond and sugar for 2 minutes. Add heated 600ml of curry base and heat until bubbling, simmer for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups masala paste and heat on medium heat for 5-10 minutes (my sauce is quite thick therefore I don’t reduce it like in some similar recipes). Serve over rice and garnish with single cream and a generous sprinkle of fresh coriander. Although used as a garnish the coriander really does add flavour to the curry and I highly recommend using it!
Curry Base:
8 large onions, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
250 – 300ml olive/vegetable oil
2 ½ tbsp. ginger puree (can add ¼ – ½ tsp fresh grated ginger)
4 tbsp. garlic puree
1 tbsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. garam masala
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. ground coriander (I grind the seeds in a magic bullet with 2 pinches cumin seeds)
1 tbsp. ground fenugreek
1 tbsp. Paprika
6 Cardamom pods
1 tbsp. salt
2 cans chopped tomatoes (approx. 800ml)
Water (just enough to cover the vegetables)
In a large saucepan, add the oil. Once hot add a pinch of cumin seeds and a pinch of coriander seeds, fry for 2 minutes.
Fry the onions until cooked. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, paprika, cardamom, salt and allow to fry for a minute or so to release the aromatics.
Add the peppers, carrots and celery. Add in the chopped tomatoes then add enough water to cover the vegetables.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for approx. 1 hour, making sure all the vegetables are very soft. Liquidize the mixture with a hand blender or food processor.
Re-add the mixture to the pan and cook for another 10 mins. Allow the gravy to cool and then pour into freezer bags. The curry base will keep for months in the freezer until needed.
Masala Paste:
150ml condensed milk
150ml coconut milk
2 tbsp. tomato paste (x2 concentrated)
1 ½ tbsp. tandoori masala (I used Natco brand)
1 tbsp. Paprika
1 tsp. “spice mix” (I used Ras El Hanout which has a clove-y aroma)
1 ½ tbsp. fresh lemon
1 tsp. ginger puree
1 tsp. garlic puree
ldr13 