An everyday curry base

Mar 21, 2021 | 2 comments

Archives

An everyday curry base

This curry base recipe is a very useful one to have in your repertoire. Endlessly versatile, you can add pretty much any protein to it.

Curry Base Recipe

To make the curry base, start by frying off a finely chopped onion. You can use any fat to do it. Ghee is traditionally used in Indian recipes, but you can use any vegetable oil, (I tend to opt for rapeseed oil as it has more Omega 3) bacon fat, fat from a meat joint, whatever you have.

Add the spices and give them a sizzle for a minute or two to cook them in the oil as they are oil soluble. Now add the tomatoes, tomato puree and the acidifier. I use tamarind paste, but if you don’t have that, lemon juice will work fine.

Add the lentils, a stock cube and some water and set it to blip slowly for about an hour. This long cooking helps to bring out the maximum flavour. The acid in the tomatoes and the tamarind/lemon juice also increase the time it takes for the lentils to soften.

Keep an eye on the water, it might need a splash more if it looks too dry.

Your easy lentil curry base is now ready.

Some people recommend adding a tblsp of garam masala right at the end. I tried it, but thought it tasted better without it.

Vegan Lentil Recipes

To keep the lentil curry vegan, add some cooked vegetables at this point – cubed and roasted butternut squash and chopped frozen spinach for instance – frozen spinach because it is much cheaper than fresh; or chopped green beans, cauliflower florets and mushrooms; cubed potato pieces, chopped capsicum pepper and mushroom; chunks of carrot, frozen spinach and peas.

You could add more protein in the form of any kind of beans too. Value baked beans rinsed of the sauce being cheapest, but any tinned or dried, soaked and cooked bean will work well in this base recipe.

Or just add the beans, and no extra vegetables, it will work beautifully.

Lentil Curry

Change the lentil curry by adding a protein. I usually use diced chicken breast, added at the end and cooked through for a few minutes. It would be lovely with diced lamb, cooked or raw prawns, or diced stewing steak. If I was doing a beef version, I would add the beef right at the beginning of the hours simmer so that it had time to soften and cook to tenderness.

You could add paneer, cubed and fried until crispy; tofu would be good too.

Does curry freeze?

Indeed it does. Having a frozen curry tucked away is a very useful item to have at your fingertips. You could freeze the curry base and add any extras when you use it. Or freeze it with the extra vegetables and protein so that you have a delicious home made ready meal whenever you want it.

Curry from scratch

Making curry from scratch in this way, without using a ready made paste, gave me a great sense of achievement. It means I can experiment with other spices, altering the flavour as I go along





curry base
curry base

Curry Base

5 from 3 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
simmer: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Course:
Dinner
Cuisine:
Indian
Vegan
,
Vegetarian
dairy free by Olguioo from the Noun Project
Dairy Free
,
freeze by Hare Krishna from the Noun Project
Freezes Well
,
low saturated fat by Yoyon Pujiyono from the Noun Project
Low Fat
,
No Nuts by Llisole from the Noun Project
Nut Free
,
vegan by Guilherme Furtado from the Noun Project
Vegan
,
Vegetarian by Philipp Petzka from the Noun Project
Vegetarian
Servings: 4
Cost per portion 33p a serving
Calories: 227kcal
Click on the check box to cross off Equipment, Ingredients or Recipe Steps completed.
If you click and buy anything, I may get a small commission on the purchase. It won't cost you anything extra. Some are just things that I like and/or use myself rather than necessarily best value 🙂
If you enjoyed this recipe, would you please consider leaving a review? It would really help

Ingredients

Curry Base

  • 100 g dried red lentils
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil or ghee, fat from a joint etc
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves chopped or grated
  • thumb-sized piece of ginger peeled and chopped or grated
  • ¼ tsp ground turmeric
  • ¼ tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste or lemon juice optional
  • 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 stock cube

Optional extras to serve

  • 1 tbsp garam masala to finish, optional
  • green chillies optional
  • fresh coriander optional

Instructions

Curry Base

  • Heat the oil and fry the onion with a pinch of salt for 10 mins until it starts to turn golden.
  • Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin seeds and ground coriander, and cook for 3 mins or so.
  • Stir in the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and tamarind or lemon juice. Simmer gently for 8-10 mins until you have a thick paste.
  • Add the lentils to the tomato base, add the stock cube and tip in 600ml water (use some to rinse the tomato can).
  • See protein suggestions. If using beef, add it now
  • Simmer gently, stirring now and again, for up to 1 hour. You may need to add a splash more water if it looks like it needs it.
  • Stir through the garam masala if using.
  • Season with salt

Add a protein to the curry base

  • Add 200g chopped chicken breasts and cook through. Or the same amount of prawns - cook through if raw. Or use any kind of canned bean - butter beans; cannellini beans; rinsed baked beans; black eye beans etc. Or use diced stewing steak. If you decide on this option, add the beef right at the beginning to ensure it cooks to tenderness.

Serve the curry

  • Sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander and sliced chilli if using

Notes

Priced at Asda, March 2021
The nutrition information does not include any protein added



Got a great recipe? How about submitting it to appear on Thrifty Lesley!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Curry Base
Amount per Serving
Calories
227
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
5
g
8
%
Saturated Fat
 
1
g
6
%
Trans Fat
 
1
g
Cholesterol
 
126
mg
42
%
Sodium
 
782
mg
34
%
Potassium
 
606
mg
17
%
Carbohydrates
 
27
g
9
%
Fiber
 
11
g
46
%
Sugar
 
5
g
6
%
Protein
 
19
g
38
%
Vitamin A
 
205
IU
4
%
Vitamin C
 
17
mg
21
%
Calcium
 
158
mg
16
%
Iron
 
5
mg
28
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @ThriftyLesley or tag #ThriftyLesley !





2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Thrifty Lesley

    That sounds a great combination!

  2. Vicki

    5 stars
    Best curry base I have made as not too strongly spiced but flavoursome. Made Sweet Potato and Chickpea curry with frozen spinach added and some naan . One to add and keep in my book of favourites.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Thrifty Lesley has an associated Facebook Group. Do come over and say hello if you haven’t already joined. I’d love to see you!

I’m a perpetual dieter, and to help with that endeavour, there is now also a Thrifty Lesley dieting group, a lovely, growing community.