Madras Curry Paste

Step 1

Heat a frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the whole spices into the pan and roast until warm to the touch and fragrant but don’t let them smoke.

Step 2

Remove the spice from the heat to cool on a plate and then place the spices in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and blend to a fine powder. Stir in the paprika, amchoor, ground turmeric, ginger powder, garlic powder and salt.

Step 3

In a frying pan, mix this powder with about 125ml (1/2 cup) of water and the tamarind concentrate and stir into a paste. Pour the oil into the pan and turn your burner on to medium high. Stir continuously until the spices begin to sizzle a bit and the oil all rises to the top. 30 seconds to a minute should be enough as you have already roasted the spices.

Step 4

Turn off the heat and add the vinegar and stir it all up nicely. Spoon the spice mixture into a very clean preserve jar with an air-tight lid. This will keep in the fridge for at least three months.