Curry sauce

The DeputyHeadmistress posted a brilliant recipe using lentils, rice, chicken and curry sauce.

We had everything but the jar of curry sauce, but I did have most of the ingredients to make a curry sauce so we took this recipe from Jennifer Brennan's cookbook The Cuisines of Asia and made our own sauce.

Quick All-Purpose Indian Curry Sauce
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 medium onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
8 tablespoons clarified butter
6 cups of chicken or beef stock
1 cup plain yogurt (may substitute coconut milk)
1 1/4 teaspoons Indian Sweet Spice Mix (I did not have everything for this part so I substituted a mix of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ground black pepper.)
1 teaspoon salt

1. In small mixing bowl combine dried, powdered spices with vinegar into a paste.
2. In food processor or blender, grind onions, garlic and ginger into a rough puree.
3. In large saucepan place clarified butter (I used regular butter without clarifying it) and fry puree mix, stirring constantly.
4. Add spice paste and cook, stirring for at least 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the stock and let it come to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir for 10 minutes.
6. Increase the heat and stir in the yogurt or coconut milk. Add Indian Sweet Spice Mix and salt to taste. Stir again, set aside and let cool.

This recipe makes a lot of sauce: 8 cups. She recommends bagging it into 2 cup bags and freezing it so there's always curry sauce on hand when you need it.

I may do that next time, but this time we ate every bit of it. I ladled some on top of the chicken while it baked. Then I cut the cooked chicken into chunks, mixed it with the rest of the sauce and allowed everyone to put as much or as little as they wished on their rice and lentils. It fed 10 of us with seconds and leftovers for the next day. Not many leftovers, but enough for a couple of family members.

It was delicious!