Masala Curry Paste by Elaine Boddy at Foodbod

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion (I used a red onion)
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 6 small green chillies, stalks removed
• 3 tbsp Spice Kitchen garam masala
• 1 tbsp Spice Kitchen ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp Spice Kitchen ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 1-2 tbsp tomato purée
• 3-4 tbsp rapeseed oil
• Juice of 1 lemon

Optional: add salt to taste, add some fresh coriander stalks if you've got some to use up, add more chillies or some cayenne pepper if you want more heat - although you can always add more heat to the dish later if you choose.

1. Blend all of the ingredients together in a blender and use immediately or store in a jar in the fridge.
2. To use the paste to create a masala sauce:
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat
4. Add 3/4 cup of the masala paste and cook for a couple of minutes
5. Add a jar of passata, quarter fill the empty jar with water and swill it round then add that too
6. Turn the heat done and simmer the sauce
7. To thicken, add 1-2 tablespoons of ground almonds
8. For an creamy sauce, add a can of coconut milk

You can store the sauce in the fridge and can now use the sauce in multiple ways, for example, I added some chopped roasted aubergine to some, some cooked mushrooms to another batch, and I cooked some eggs into some of the sauce on another day.

To make a chicken curry:

1. Heat oil in a large pan over a medium heat
2. Add 3/4 cup of the masala paste and cook for a couple of minutes
3. Add 2 breast of chicken cut into even size chunks
4. Cook for a few minutes
5. Add half a jar passata
6. Add a tablespoon of Spice Kitchen tandoori masala spice mix
7. Add a few green chillies
8. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ground almonds
9. Simmer over a low heat until the chicken is cooked through & the sauce has thickened to a consistency that you like
10. *Ideally, make this the day before you plan to eat it and allow flavours to develop further.

Optional: add coconut milk, buttermilk or yoghurt (off the heat) of you would like a creamy sauce