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British Indian Restaurant Curry

British Indian Restaurant Curry And how to Make It!

Scroll down for a basic recipe for Curry Base Gravy and how to use it!

Just like any other food curry has it’s trends and opinions on how to make it. In this article we will find out what British Indian Restaurant Curry is and how to reproduce it in your own home.

I have been following the trend for British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style curries for many years, starting in the 90’s when Pat Chapman started his series of books. Recently Dan Toombs, Misty Ricardo and a handful of other curry aficionados have taken over the mantle.

The British Indian Restaurant style of cooking curry relies on the use of a basic curry powder and a special ‘mix powder’ as well as the use of a ‘base curry sauce’.

 

Base Curry Sauce

The base curry sauce is basically a thin type of stock/soup. Onions, garlic and ginger are sautéed in a pan before a little spice is added. Carrot and peppers are often added along with fresh coriander stalks and I’ve even seen cabbage added, in fact I’ve used it myself!

The problem I have with the British Indian Restaurant Curry method is that;

1, it usually relies on cooking base sauces and ingredients in bulk and then freezing in portions.

2, it’s best cooking one or two main dishes at a time as it relies on high heat to reduce the base sauce quickly and caramelise in the pan. this is difficult to achieve if like me you are cooking for a family of six (even more if I’m cooking extra for another day!). Also do you want to spend the rest of the night cleaning your cooker top after curry has spat everywhere? I mean it’s bad enough when I just normally cook!

If you’re cooking for just yourself or two people and you haven’t got Kids to look after, the second point may not bother you too much, in fact, I remember those days! If that’s the case you can find some great recipes online. Here’s a couple places to get started:

 

Curry Personalities

Romain at Glebe Kitchen has some amazing recipes. Easy to follow and explains every stage in detail but without the process sounding like you need a science degree to put some food on the table!

Misty Ricardo has some great recipes on his You Tube channel, or check out his books on Amazon.

Dan Toombs also has some great recipes on his website and again he has a few great books out.

Julian Voigt is somebody else that is worth having a look at. Again he posts lots of ‘how to’ videos on You Tube.

You could also check out The Curry Secret on Facebook.

However If you are like me, sometimes you just can’t be bothered to follow a recipe, and personally I don’t think it’s necessary, if you remember the basics.

And I think the most important thing is that there is no right or wrong way of doing things providing you are getting great end results!

 

‘Ome Made Curry Masalas

 

I have just started selling a group of spice blends that are perfect for Indian cuisine, whether you are making traditional dishes or going down the British Indian Restaurant curry route. They are Madras Curry Masala, BIR Curry Masala, Garam Masala and Tandoori Masala.

 

 

British Indian Restaurant Curry masalas available from www.omemade.co.uk

 

The BIR Curry Masala is a cheeky little thing. I’ve combined the ingredients you would normally find in a standard curry powder (minus the copious amounts of salt, flour and all the other fillers it would have) and added extra spices that would make up the Indian Restaurants ‘special mix’. Obviously they would add more or less of the curry powder and mix depending on the dish but I have found this is a pretty happy medium and we’ve had fantastic results with it when I was trialling it at ‘ome. 

Obviously there are plenty of standard curry powders out there for you to try and it’s really easy to find out what the basics are of a BIR ‘special mix’ powder are if you want to make your own. Or you could just use a standard curry powder without the extra spice mix.

 

Back To Base!

 

Now on to the Base Curry Sauce.

If I have the time I do, nowadays, make one.

Do I follow a recipe? No. I don’t always have everything that ‘should’ go in to it so sometimes you just have to go with what you have.

Oh, and here’s a tip. If you really can’t be bothered with making a base sauce try using one of those fresh, chilled Carrot & Coriander soups you find at the supermarket. Never done it myself but I’ve read it gives great results! I have also just developed a Curry Bouillon which is a dried blend of onions & vegetables. This is simply fried for a few seconds before adding water and simmering for 10 minutes. You then have a curry stock which you can add to your curry or use as a substitute for base gravy if you haven’t had the time to make one or you’ve emptied your freezer supply!

So, even though I don’t use a recipe myself, here’s two recipes for a base sauce! If you haven’t got some of the ingredients leave them out or replace with something else. See this recipe as a starting point, adapt and customise it how you will and to your taste. It’s the best way!

The first recipe is a bit more complex. The second is about as basic as it comes and you should be able to memorise it after a few goes. If I was honest I use the second one more than the first!

 

Base curry sauce No. 1

 

Makes enough for approximately 12 portions of curry. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days or can be frozen. if you don’t want to make so much just halve the ingredients.

Ingredients;

  • 3 tablespoons oil (sunflower, rapeseed, vegetable)
  • 4 medium onions, sliced
  • 8 fat cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1″ cube of ginger, chopped
  • 2 heaped teaspoons mild/medium curry powder/masala
  • 1 red pepper (or any other coloured pepper!)
  • 1 medium sized carrot
  • coriander stalks (if you have them, basically if you are using fresh coriander to finish your curry off cut off the stalks now to add to your base!)
  • big dollop of tomato paste (you could use a squirt of tomato sauce if you don’t have any)
  • 2 litre of water, ideally hot from the kettle.
  • 1 heaped teaspoon of sugar/jaggery/palm sugar
  • optional extras; few fresh tomatoes, white cabbage, extra peppers, a little coconut powder (or coconut milk or creamed coconut)
  •  

Method.

 

Heat the oil in a pan and add your onion. fry gently for 10 minutes before adding your garlic and ginger, fry for a couple minutes more. Add the curry masala/powder and fry for a minute or so. If it’s sticking add a splash of water. Now add your carrot and peppers and give a stir around. Add the tomato paste and cook for  20 seconds or so. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Now add the coriander stalks and cook gently for at least an hour (and up to 2 hours). If it’s starting to look a bit thick or the liquid is disappearing just add some more water.

 

British Indian Restaurant Curry Base Sauce

 

Once all the veg is soft you need to puree the sauce. The best way to do that is with am immersion/stick blender. It can be done in a blender but let it cool a little and don’t overfill!

Once your sauce is blended it needs to cook for 30 – 60 minutes more. it should be the consistency of a thin soup.

 

British Indian Restaurant Curry Base Sauce

Base Curry Sauce N0. 2

This is a handy one for us as it does enough for 6, exactly the number of people in our household! It can be doubled up and again it will keep in the fridge for three days or you can freeze it.

Ingredients

  • 4tbsp of oil
  • 3 large onions, sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 inch cubed piece of fresh ginger
  • 3 tsp ‘Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala (or another curry masala or 1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander & turmeric)
  • 1.2 ltr water
  • a handful of coriander stalks (if you have them)
  • 1 x 400ml tin of tomatoes (chopped or whole as they get blitzed)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Once hot add the onions and salt and gently fry for 10 minutes or until
the onions are starting to soften.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a couple more minutes
3. Add the curry Masala or spices, along with a splash of water. Give a quick stir and mix and then
pour in the water
4. Bring to the simmer and cook for 45 minutes, lid off
5. Add the tinned tomatoes and coriander stalks
6. Bring back to the simmer and cook for another 30 minutes
7. Take the pan off the heat and blitz with an immersion blender until you have a smooth sauce
8. Put back on a low heat ready for adding to your curry. If it looks a little thick add some water. It
should be slightly thicker than full fat milk.
9. Use in a curry recipe as directed.


Notes


I have made this sauce in less time than it says, giving it 30 minutes before adding the tomatoes and
coriander and then cooking for only another 20 minutes. It was still good!
Of course you could fry your ingredients off and then add to a pressure cooker or soup maker along with all
the other ingredients and it will still be just as good. Just follow the cooking times for a soup.
This base works really well in a curry when you use the method of adding diluted tomato paste to you
cooked out spices. For 4 people use 2 tbsp of tomato puree diluted in 300ml of boiling water. Add this to
your curry when you have fried your onion, garlic, ginger and spices and let it reduce down so you’re left
with a thick paste. Then you can start adding your base sauce as normal.

Basic Medium Curry British Indian Restaurant Style.

serves approximately 4

Ingredients.

  • 2 tablespoon of oil (not olive) or ghee
  • 1 1/2 medium onions, roughly chopped
  • 4 fat cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
  • small piece of ginger (to taste) roughly chopped
  • 4 heaped teaspoons curry masala/powder
  • a half portion of Base sauce No. 1 or all or nearly all of base sauce No. 2 
  • 600g of your main ingredient  (uncooked chicken, lamb, vegetable, prawns etc)
  • fresh coriander, chopped
  • a pinch of garam masala or grind of black pepper
  • salt to taste

Method

Blitz your chopped onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor, grinder or blender (you may have to add a little water to help) to make a paste. If you haven’t got a food processor you could use a pestle and mortar or just chop finely. 

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion paste, careful as it may spit a little. Fry the paste gently for 10 minutes or so, don’t worry it will probably turn green!

Fring onions for a British Indian Restaurant Curry

Add the curry masala/powder and cook gently, if it is sticking add a splash of water, a little at a time. You want the spices to ‘cook out’ the oil will start to split from the paste when this happens and the mixture will spit in little eruptions.

Now add your main ingredient and give it a good stir. Add just enough base sauce to just cover the main ingredients and simmer gently until cooked, if it’s looking a little dry add more sauce. once your chicken, lamb or whatever is just cooked turn the heat up and add more of the base sauce a little at a time until you have your desired consistency. If it’s to thick add a little water. Add the chopped coriander and season to taste with garam masala or pepper and salt.

British Indian Restaurant Chicken Curry with Dall, Rice & Naan bread

 

And that’s it! not exactly BIR style but good enough to give your favourite Indian restaurant a run for their money!

Once you have the basics it’s easy to tweak a recipe to make a lot of different dishes.

There’s some variations you can follow further down the page. Keep Checking Back as I will keep updating and adding recipes and ideas.

 

Tandoori

The ‘Ome Made Tandoori Masala can be used to make your favourite Tandoori and Tikka dishes.

If you just wanted something quick you can literally rub a little of the Masala in to some chicken, prawns or whatever you fancy before grilling, frying or barbecuing.

For a simple tandoori or tikka marinade just add some of the masala to plain yoghurt to coat your main ingredient.

If you want to go the whole hog, fry roughly 1 heaped teaspoon of Tandoori Masala per 200g of main ingredient (chicken, king prawn, lamb, paneer etc.) in a little oil. This then needs adding to some plain natural yoghurt (Greek yoghurt is fine).

For four people you want roughly 800g of main ingredient and 250g of yoghurt.

If you want a truly authentic flavour add a splash of lemon or lime juice, a teaspoon of grated garlic and ginger, some chopped chilli and coriander. You may want to season with salt and pepper or Garam Masala.

‘Ome Made Tandoori Masala has some beetroot powder in it to give it a slightly more reddish colour but it won’t be the vibrant, garish red that you get in an Indian restaurant. If you want that you need to add a small amount of red food colouring.

To cook I use the oven on a relatively high temperature. Once your chicken, lamb or whatever is cooked, you may want to just give it a blast under the grill to get those nice charred edges. I actually use a blowtorch. Of course if the weather is good Tandoori and Tikka is great cooked over charcoal on the BBQ!

 

Madras Curry British Indian Restaurant Style

This is as simple as it gets for a British Indian restaurant style Madras curry!

Follow the Basic Medium Curry above to frying the onion, garlic, ginger and spices. Once you have done this add the following;

400g chopped tinned tomatoes (blitz smooth in a blender or food processor if you want a restaurant style curry)

2 Tablespoons Tomato Puree

Cook this for a couple minutes then add your main ingredient. Add a little water or base sauce to thin the sauce a little then leave to cook.

Once your main ingredient is nearly cooked you need to add the coriander, garam masala, salt and the following;

1 tablespoon ground almonds

2 tablespoons of lemon juice, fresh is best but bottled will be fine

3 teaspoons of sugar

2 – 3 teaspoon of chilli powder.

Cook for another 15 – 20 minutes before serving. Simple!

Ceylon Curry British Indian Restaurant Style

Again follow the above Basic Medium Curry recipe. go easy on the base sauce as you are adding more liquid later.

once your main ingredient is nearly cooked add the following;

1/3 of a block of creamed coconut (i usually grate it straight in t the pan) or 3 tablespoons of coconut milk powder

150ml of milk

1 tablespoon of lemon juice, ideally fresh but bottled will work as well.

1 – 4 fresh green chillies chopped (or more or less to suit your taste)

cook for a couple of minutes before adding the garam masala, salt and fresh coriander and cooking for another 15 minutes or so before serving.

Again once you have mastered the basic recipe for a curry you should be seeing now how easy it is to tweak it and make lots of variations.

Chicken Karahi

Ok, this is another easy adaptation to a basic medium curry.

To me Karahi is about the lovely fresh taste of ginger along with some nice fresh peppers and tomatoes. I usually add fresh chillies as well. To be fair when you add fresh chillies this dish is virtually indistinguishable from a Jalfrezi so this is almost a two in one curry!

So follow the recipe for medium chicken curry above EXCEPT add more fresh ginger. You want a piece roughly as big as your thumb. Also add a teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of chilli powder (more if you like it hotter) when you add your curry masala.

about 15 minutes before you’re ready to dish up add some chopped peppers (1 red, 1 green or whatever you have), 4 tomatoes cut in to quarters and some optional fresh chillies, and of course the chopped fresh coriander.

I’d love to see and hear about your own variations. Remember to post your creations on my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/omemade or Twitter account @Omemade

Remember to keep checking back here as I will add more recipes!

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Portuguese One Pot Chicken.

 

It was a Saturday. Something strange had happened. I fancied something other than curry for tea! Not sure Kit was so impressed with this idea!

However not all was lost…

I still wanted that hit of spice!

We were going to be having curry. We had bought 3 chickens especially. To be honest I think the thought of taking the meat off 3 birds was not appealing to me on this particular day. I think a bout of ‘Can’t be arsed’ had come over me!

As well as three chickens I had also put a load of chickpeas into soak the night before so I had to incorporate those in some way.

I had been making some seasonings a couple days previously and knew that I had some surplus ‘Ome Made Portuguese Rub-a-Dub-Rub. And that was all the inspiration I needed! “One Pot Portuguese Chicken”.

 

 

One Pot Portuguese Chicken

This really is a simple recipe and whilst it’s cooking you can go about and enjoy your day rather than slaving over a hot stove.

You don’t have to use three chickens! The recipe below is for one. You can also use whatever vegetables you fancy.

You will need;

  • One Large Chicken
  • 165g dried chick peas (soaked overnight, boiled for 10 minutes and drained)
  • 4 large potatoes quartered
  • 4 large carrots cut into chunks
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 2 bulbs garlic chopped
  • roughly 120g mushrooms sliced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ‘Ome Made Portuguese Rub-a-Dub-Rub (or Piri-Piri seasoning or mix up a little paprika, cumin and chilli) mixed with a little oil to make a paste.
  • Roughly 1 1/2 litres chicken Stock (you could use a little less and add a glass of red wine or as we did a splash of Port!)
  • 4 tomatoes chopped
  • Big handful of fresh coriander chopped
  • Seasoning to taste

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method

Take a large roasting pan or anything oven proof that all your ingredients will fit in. Put all the ingredients except the chicken, spice mix, stock, tomatoes and coriander in your roasting pan. pour over the stock so that it almost but not quite covers your vegetables.

Rub the spice mixture all over your chicken and place it on top of your vegetables. Cover the whole pan with a couple layers of tin foil and place in a preheated oven at 170°C/150°C fan/gas mark 3 for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Take out of the oven. Turn the oven up to 220°C/200°C Fan/ Gas Mark 7. Remove the tin foil and stir in the tomato and fresh coriander. Check for seasoning. Place the pan back in the oven for approximately 30 minutes for the chicken skin to crisp and colour a little.

Remove from the oven and let sit for twenty minutes. The chicken will just fall off the bone. Try serving with some steamed rice and some good crusty bread.

Bao saúde

 

 

 

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Happy Happy Holidays!

Happy Happy Holidays!

We love school holidays in our house.Happy Holidays

It’s even better when the weather is good, because after a wet winter with 4 bundles of energy bombing around in the house & climbing the walls, we were getting a wee bit fractious temperament wise.

For the first winter in a long time we couldn’t go sledging with our Kids or have snowball fights due to zero snowflakes falling. I have to say board games have been our saviour (although the 3hours of trying to teach our Kids how to play Monopoly was maybe not too good on the old blood pressure!).

So the Easter holidays. A time to kick back, relax & catch up on the little jobs around the house.

The toilet seat that broke in January has finally been fixed by ‘Ome….& then broke again on Easter Sunday due to the amount of traffic using it.

Windows have been cleaned so they’re like, erm, glass.

Courgette & borage plants have been planted out….& then promptly scoffed by slugs! Grrrrr…

The lawn has FINALLY had its first cut of the year. The grass was that long it had lost the will to be in a vertical position.

Cycle rides & walks have been enjoyed by all.

A new (well, second-hand) garden set has been purchased & painted after the last set ended up more leg-less than Oliver Reed (Bless him).

School books have been read.

A project on India is underway.MissT sliding

CurlyE On a Bike... Upright!

The schools’ pet snails seemed to have settled into our mad house & are being fed & watered everyday (thanks Dj for asking your Lil'MrM slidingteacher if we could have them over the hols!).

The ‘How Much Chocolate Can Small Children Eat In One Day’ experiment was carried out on Easter Sunday. I think CurlyE won that one. Dj was the first to fall & announce ‘I feel a bit sick….do I have to eat all this egg?’. MissT & Lil’MrM drew a very well battled second place.

It won’t be long until we’re back into the same old routine of school & homework & packed lunches & work & stress.CurlyE Eating... again!

But then if we didn’t have that I don’t think we’d ever fully appreciate the times when our Kids are wired, bringing home P.E kits to be washed & emptying their school bags of all the crap they’ve accumulated over the school terms because

‘IT’S THE HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!’

Kit x

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Cheeky Cow!

Mike, our butcher, had got a couple of Ox Cheeks in. I’ve never had them before but I thought I’d give them a go.

I’d read about them and understood that they needed a nice slow cook. Apparently they make an absolutely wicked chilli, or should that be cheeky chilli!Ox Cheek 1

 I think the bit of Irish in me had attuned to the fact that St Patricks day was approaching so I decided to cook these cheeky chappies in Guinness (other stouts are available…)with a few flat mushrooms, carrots and onions and serve them with a good dollop of Champ, that comforting dish of mashed potato with spring onions and lots of butter!Champ 1

I have to say that I was not disappointed with the results. After quite a few hours of cooking I had a gorgeous dark gravy and the cheeks were moist and succulent and had a lovely beefy flavour that reminded me of a cross between beef shin and Ox tail.

Ox Cheek 8

 

 The Cheeks went a long way too. They are quite rich due to the gelatinous nature of them so a little seems to go a long way. You shouldn’t pay a lot for them either which makes them a real bargain.

With the leftover meat, champ and gravy I made some potato cakes with the meat in the middle, baked them in the oven and served them with some peas and the leftover gravy… I’ll tell you something, leftovers don’t get much better!

I would recommend anyone to give Ox cheeks a go. They are a very forgiving meat to cook as long as they are cooked for plenty of time, they are cheap and extremely tasty. Don’t be put off by the look of them or the part of the animal they are from. They really are delicious which is probably why all the celebrity chefs are coming out with recipes for them… lets hope they don’t succeed in pushing up the price of these cheeky little morsels!

Ox Cheek 2

Recipe (to serve 8 adults)

 2 Ox Cheeks (about 900g – 1 KiloOx Cheek 3

1 large or two medium onions chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

4 large carrots cubed/sliced

8 – 12 flat mushrooms sliced

Plain flour (some)

About 400ml beef stock

2 x 500ml bottles of Guinness

1 or two star anise

1 Tablespoon muscavado sugar or other dark sugar

Pinch of thyme

Good pinch of salt to taste and a really good grind of black pepper

For the Champ

 2 kilo peeled potatoes

2 bunch spring onions (12-16)Champ 2

50 gram butter

200ml milk

 Method

 When we had this we prepared it the day before we were going to have it so that it could be put straight in the oven to be ready for teatime. It’s a good idea to do if you have a busy day.

 First off dice your onions and finely chop your garlic and fry gently in a large oven proof pan. Add the carrot, thickly sliced and continue to gently fry.

 Prepare your Ox Cheek by taking off the outer thick bits of fat and any thick bits of membrane. Don’t worry too much about the state of your cheeks being perfect, after a long slow cook they’ll be fine.

 Once the onion has softened and the carrot is stating too take on a bit of colour add your cheeks to brown.

 Heat your stock ready to go in the pan.

 Once your cheeks are nice and brown sprinkle over some flour to roughly coat everything in the pan. Continue to cook gently for a couple more minutes.Ox Cheek 3

Add your stock a little at a time while giving everything a bit of a stir. You should end up with a thick paste. If it’s a little lumpy don’t worry as after a long cook it should cook out.

Now pour in your two bottles of Guinness. Remember to do a quality control taste on each bottle before adding!

 Ox Cheek 4

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer.

Ox Cheek 5

 

Ox Cheek 6

 

Once the liquid has come to the simmer you can either take off the heat, cool and refrigerate to cook the next day or it can be put in the oven to finish off.

The Stew can be cooked,covered, on 165°C for three hours or 150°C for about six hours. We put our stew straight in the oven from the fridge. We put it in a cold oven set to 150°c where it stayed for three hours and then we turned it up to 160°c for another three hours, after which it was cooked perfectly. The cheeks were lifted out of the gravy to rest while the gravy was put in the oven uncovered to reduce slightly.

As for the champ, well thats dead easy. Peel and cut your potatoes into approximately 1 1/2’’ chunks. Plonk into a pan and just cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender. Drain the potatoes and put on a very low heat until the steam almost stops (meaning all the excess water has evaporated and you’ll have nice fluffy potatoes).

While your potatoes are finishing, put the onions, milk, butter and seasoning in a pan and warm gently allowing all the flavours to infuse.

When your potatoes are ready give them a good mashing and then fold the milk, butter and onion mixture into the potatoes.

Once your ready to plate up the Ox cheeks can be sliced or pulled apart with a fork. Simply put a dollop of Champ into a dish, place some Ox cheek on top then ladle some gravy over the top. We finished our dish off with a little purple sprouting broccoli.

 Ox Cheek 9

A nice cheap meal that really tasted like something you should be paying a lot of money for in a trendy ‘Gastro’ pub.

Happy St Patricks Day everybody… enjoy your Guinness, in moderation… of course!

 

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Smoked Chicken & Sweetcorn Chowder

So Kit has to go to the emergency eye clinic, turns out she has got viral conjunctivitis, not nice.

Hmmm, was going to be chicken & mushroom lasagne for tea, made with some ‘Ome smoked chicken (done at the same time as the lamb for Easter).Thinking about it though seems as our house is ‘house of the lurg’ at the moment maybe a nice warming smoked chicken & sweetcorn chowder might be in order. There is nothing like a soup made with real chicken stock to kick those pesky virus and bacteria into touch!

Chicken & Sweetcorn Chowder (Serves 4-6)

You will need:

Leftover roast chicken (approximately 300g or two good handfuls, it doesn’t have to be smoked!)

Butter

Flour

Onion

Garlic

Chicken stock (Boil up the bones from the roast chicken if you’ve had time. You want about a pint)

Milk or cream

sweetcorn (frozen or tinned)

Cooked potato (either leftover new potatoes or dice up a large baker and boil for 20 minutes)

Seasoning

Method:

Melt some butter, about 125g, in a pan. Add some chopped garlic (1 or 2 cloves) and some onion (1 medium sized). Fry gently for a couple minutes.

Add a tablespoon of flour to the pan and stir for a minute to help cook the flour out.

Add some stock (if it’s hot it will blend with the flour better and you will void lumps), a bit at a time and keep stirring to make a smooth paste. Once you’re at this stage you should be able to add the rest of the stock with no problems. Keep stirring until the sauce comes to a simmer (if it does go lumpy you can always get the hand blender in there or put in a liquidizer).

Add your chicken and potato and let that heat through for 10 minutes. You can then add the sweet corn and either a couple tablespoons of cream or about 1/4 pint of milk. The soup should be a nice thick consistency, if it’s too thick thin with a bit more stock or milk.

Season with pepper (ground white works best) and salt to taste. I also add a generous pinch of paprika (you could use smoked).

You can add some finely chopped fresh parsley or chervil if you have any.

After ten minutes the Chowder will be ready.

Serve with some nice crusty bread for a lovely comforting meal.