Mmmm...Spicy ;)

I'm a big fan of Pataks curry pastes, easy, relatively cheap and very nommy. I really wanted to have a go at making my own paste though, partly because I have a lot of chillies to use up (still) and partly because well, it's just the kind of thing I like to do ;)

After talking to an old school friend of mine via facebook, she sent me a copy of a recipe given to her by another school friend for a Ghurka curry using paste.

After a bit of tweaking to suit our palate, here is my first attempt at a curry paste.

For the paste

2 large onions
6 chillies - I used peri peri ones as they needed using up
8 cloves of garlic
30 g dried ginger or 75g fresh chopped
20 g turmeric
20g cumin
40 g garam masala
50 ml olive oil


Roughly chop the onions and place into blender, add all other dry ingredients and give it a quick blend. Then add some oil and blend finely into a paste.

Ladle into warm clean jar, add 5mm of olive oil on top to help preserve it. Lid on securely and place in fridge, this should keep for 3-4 weeks.

For the curry. -

This is a double batch, should make about 2.5 - 3 litres of curry. 2 x average family serving 4

1 large onion
500g diced beef
400g mushrooms
1 tin tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil.

Place oil in large saucepan and put on medium heat. Add 4-6 tbps of curry paste depending on level of heat required. Cook paste through gently until it starts to darken and seperate from the oil.

Chop 1 large onion into half, then slice.

Add onions and stir through until nicely covered in spicey oil.

Add diced beef, stir well and leave to cook through for 5 minutes or so.

Add roughly sliced mushrooms.

Add tomatoes ( I popped mine in the blender first to pick up the spices stuck at the bottom)

Add 1 litre of boiling water, you can pop a stock cube or two in if you like at this point. I don't think it really needs it.

Roughly chop a handful of fresh coriander and stir in.

If you like your sauce quite thick, use a little cornflour paste.

Leave to cook for at least 30 mins, I tend to make things a few hours in advance and let them simmer away on the hob.

Nom with basmati rice.


Credit to Karena and Richard for the original recipe. :)