Chip Shop Curry Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 25 g plain flour
• 700 ml vegetable stock
• 4 tsp sugar
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Method

1. Soften everything

   Cook the onion, apple and carrot in the oil over a medium heat until completely soft, about 15 minutes. The apple is the secret — it is where the faint sweetness of a proper chip shop sauce comes from, without tasting of apple.

   15 min

2. Cook out the powder

   Stir in the curry powder, turmeric and flour and cook for two full minutes. This sauce is built on cheap curry powder, so the only way to make it taste good is to fry the rawness out of it properly.

   2 min

3. Add the stock gradually

   Pour in the stock a little at a time, stirring, then add the sugar and soy and simmer for 15 minutes.

   15 min

4. Blend completely smooth

   Blend until absolutely silky — no texture at all. That glossy, uniform smoothness is the whole character of the thing, and a slightly chunky version just reads as a bad curry.

5. Sharpen and adjust

   Add the vinegar and season, then thin with water to the consistency you want. It thickens considerably in the fridge, and it freezes well in portions.