Corner-shop curry sauce | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

What to add to a shop bought curry sauce? ›

Use fresh ginger and garlic: Fresh ginger and garlic add a lot of flavour to curries. You can add them to the sauce while it's cooking. Add a touch of sweetness: Some store-bought curry sauces can be quite sour. Adding a touch of sweetness, such as a bit of honey or s.

It's important to taste your curry before serving, to check the seasoning and intensity. If at that final taste you find your flavors are too intense, too spicy, and even tasting a bit metalic, add in some fresh coconut milk. It will mellow out all the flavors and add a lovely fresh coconut aroma.

Sour cream, regular cream, and yoghurt can also be added to improve the flavour. Pour in the sour cream, regular cream or yoghurt and taste until you reach the desired spice level. You can also add more base ingredients to your curry to make it less spicy.

Adding spices to a curry after it is cooked is best done by stirring in a spice blend or adding individual spices to taste. If you want to bring a bit of heat to the curry, try adding some chili powder or cayenne pepper. If you want to add a bit of smokiness, try adding some smoked paprika or cumin.

Whether you may be familiar with the differences between curries from various countries, such as Indian versus Japanese curry, and perhaps even know how to make them at home, there's a special flavor enhancer that you may not have thought to add: honey.

Indian chef Maunika Gowardhan suggests using tomato purée, coconut milk or yoghurt as natural thickening agents to achieve the perfect consistency. Adding ground nuts such as almonds or peanuts can also be a great way to ensure your curry is a knockout.

The actual sweetness and creaminess of such curries meanwhile, usually comes from fried onions and either cashews and/or dairy products. Instead of (or in addition to) onion, ground coconut may be used. White poppy seeds and/or watermelon seeds are also used in some creamy sauces.

The easiest way to fix a bland and tasteless curry is by adding spices like red chili powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, curry leaves and turmeric. Just make a quick tempering and pour over the curry to give it a nice punch of spices and herbs.

How do you thicken store bought curry sauce? ›

The Indian Curry Base Hack

Onions, garlic and ginger feature heavily in any good Indian curry base, whether it is slow-cooked for hours or cooked in a matter of minutes in the takeaway kitchen. Spices are plenty, with flavours from a blend of coriander, cumin, and turmeric amongst others.

Kesuri Methi, aka dried fenugreek leaves. Toasted and sprinkled in at the end, it gives the "restaurant taste" of most Indian curries. Fresh, toasted spices. Usually whole and ground right before blooming them in oil, before adding the liquid to build the curry gravy.

Let it cook for as long as possible. Simmering a curry allows time for the flavours to infuse; a long, slow simmering time generally produces the best curry. Flavours will continue to infuse even when the curry is taken off the heat, so do allow time for the curry to “rest” and cool down before serving.

The easiest way to fix a bland and tasteless curry is by adding spices like red chili powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, curry leaves and turmeric. Just make a quick tempering and pour over the curry to give it a nice punch of spices and herbs.

I went with broccoli, carrot, onion, snow peas and tomato, but you could go with just bell peppers and onion, potatoes, cauliflower, etc. – whatever you wish! As for the spices I kept it simple with curry powder* and a pinch of cayenne. But you could also just add a dried red chili for a similar effect.