Apologies to my fellow Asians/Brown people…I had to use the word curry in my title. Yes, ‘we’ know not everything to do with our food is limited to a ‘curry’ yet to let SEO and Google do it’s thing- we have to give in to the algorithm… ??‍♀️

SO! this is going to be a short post, but one that will prepare you for the recipes I will start to share using ingredients you can easily access right now- Vegan, Vegetarian, Meat based; that pack a punch! ?

We all love a good spicy dish- be it a Tadka Daal, Chicken Karahi or Aloo Bhujia or my favourite Okra/Bhindi Masala…

If you’re not familiar with spices or how to combine them, you’re left confused, anxious and thinking ‘What on earth do I do with a cinnamon stick!?’ ‘How much turmeric do I add?’ etc etc

I wanted to share my fool proof base of most ‘curries’ that will form the crux of your dish.

Go to your local Asian supermarket, support their family business and buy these ingredients. FYI: these will last you minimum 6 months…!

To fill your pantry you need:

• Curry leaves
• Garam Masala powder: you can also buy the loose spices that together make up the coveted Garam Masala
  • Cinnamon sticks
  • Peppercorns
  • Cumin seeds
  • Cardamoms
  • Cloves
  • Coriander seeds
  • P.S: you will find variations of garam masala blends but the above are the most common ones. I’d recommend you buy the powder form and the spices separately as well.
• Red chilli powder
• Turmeric powder
• Coriander powder
• Cumin powder
• Dried Fenugreek (aka Methi)
• Bay leaves

By the way, the above will cost you under £30 (absolute maximum!) for a supply of 6+ months or more.

Additional items:

• Garlic
• Ginger
• Fresh green chillies
• Fresh tomatoes ?, or canned ones (I personally prefer fresh even though the tomatoes we get in the UK are no where as juicy but it’s cool, we work with what we’ve got!)
• Fresh coriander…or not if you don’t like it ?

Now you won’t need to use all of the above in one go but buying those spices in one go would mean you don’t have to buy them every time you go out. Please don’t buy those tiny jars from Shwartz… ? overpriced and definitely not worth the price tag. Those massive bags of spices with additional text in a foreign language you don’t understand is a safer and better bet ? #shotsfired ?

You can make an amazing Chicken Masala recipe from just Salt, pepper, fresh tomatoes and fresh green chillies – which is super popular in the Khyber Pukhtunwa region of Pakistan. So that’s literally 4 ingredients and including chicken 5! It’s that simple. Of course, once you’re more comfortable you can start to experiment more.

I’ll share some recipes over the weekend that you can cook and enjoy during the long Bank Holiday weekend! ?