How do I make a curry from scratch?

Curry looks like a long ingredient list and is really a sequence. The step that most affects the result is frying the spices in fat before adding liquid — their flavour compounds are fat-soluble, so stirring them into a watery sauce extracts a fraction of what's there.

What you'll need

• Onion, garlic, ginger
• Ground spices — cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli
• Oil or ghee
• Tinned tomatoes or coconut milk
• Main ingredient — meat, pulses or vegetables
• Whole spices (optional)

Step by step

1. Soften a chopped onion in oil over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.Properly soft and just golden. This slow start is where the sweetness comes from, and rushing it is the most common shortcut.
2. If using whole spices, fry them in the oil first, before the onion.Cumin seed, cardamom, cinnamon, mustard seed. 30 seconds until they pop and smell fragrant.
3. Add crushed garlic and grated ginger and cook for one minute.One minute only — both burn quickly and turn bitter.
4. Add the ground spices and fry in the fat for 30–60 seconds, stirring constantly.This is the critical step. The flavour compounds are fat-soluble, so this extracts far more than adding them to liquid.
5. Add tomatoes or a splash of water immediately, before the spices burn.Have it ready. The window between fragrant and burnt is short.
6. Add the main ingredient and enough liquid to just cover.Less than you think — it will release its own liquid, and a curry should be thick.
7. Simmer gently until tender: 20 minutes for vegetables, 45–90 for meat, longer for tough cuts.Partly covered. If it's reducing too fast, add a splash of water.
8. Finish off the heat with lemon juice or a spoonful of yoghurt, and fresh coriander.The acid at the end is what makes it taste finished rather than flat.

Tips

• Toasting and grinding whole spices yourself makes a substantial difference. Pre-ground spices lose most of their aroma within months.
• Salt as you go, not just at the end. The onions, the sauce and the finished dish each want seasoning.
• If it tastes flat, it usually needs salt or acid, not more spice. Adding more chilli when it needs lemon is a common error.
• Most curries improve overnight as the flavours combine. It's a good dish to make in advance.

Common mistakes

• Adding ground spices to liquid — Their flavour is fat-soluble. Frying them in oil first extracts far more.
• Rushing the onions — The slow softening is the flavour base. Browned or barely-cooked onion gives a harsh or thin result.
• Burning the garlic or spices — Both turn bitter within seconds, and it can't be corrected.
• Too much liquid — A curry should be thick enough to coat. Ingredients release their own liquid as they cook.

Questions people ask