Vindaloo paste (curry)

General

This is how you use your home-made curry pastes:

• Fry onions in oil until soft.
• Add some curry spice paste and gently cook for a few minutes. ...
• Next add your meat or vegetables and cook until sealed.
• Finally add some water and leave to simmer for 15-30 mins depending on the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 cm piece of fresh root ginger
• 4 dried red chillies
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 3 tablespoons groundnut oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 2 fresh red chillies
• ½ a bunch fresh coriander (15g) or frozen
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns , for toasting
• 4 cloves , for toasting
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds , for toasting
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds , for toasting
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds , for toasting

Procedure

1. First peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the spices for toasting to the dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious, then remove the pan from the heat.
2. Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine, or put them into a food processor and whiz to a powder. Either way, when you’ve ground them whiz the toasted spices in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and ½ a teaspoon of sea salt until you have a smooth paste.