There’s nothing as comforting on a cold night as a fragrant, spicy curry and, with Rosa Matto's daag paste in the fridge, dinner can be ready in just a few minutes.

Recipe Rosa Matto | Photograph Brendan Homan | Styling Natalie Homan

DAAG
makes about 2 cups
Daag is a basic curry sauce. Sealed and refrigerated, or frozen, it keeps for a few weeks, so you can make many different curries quickly.

5 cloves garlic, peeled
5cm fresh ginger root, peeled
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 tbsp ghee
3 brown onions, thinly sliced
½ tsp mild Kashmiri chilli powder
small pinch turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
3 tomatoes, chopped finely
squeeze of lemon juice

Finely chop the garlic and ginger root, then crush them together in a pestle and mortar or grinder to make a rough paste. Set aside. In a dry frying pan, heat the cumin and fenugreek seeds and toast. Cool and grind to a powder.

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the onions. Cook the onion slices very gently for at least 30 minutes, until they turn an even golden colour. This will give you deep flavour and colour to your curry. Add the ginger and garlic paste and stir for a few seconds. Stir in all the chilli powder, turmeric and garam masala, followed by the tomatoes and lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes.

At this point, the daag can be stored in the fridge for a week or frozen in small batches.

CHICKEN DAAG
serves 6

Heat 1 cup daag in a pan and stir in 6 chicken thigh fillets, cut in half. Allow to cook for 10 minutes or so, then add about half a cup of water. Cook gently, stirring from time to time until the chicken is tender. Finish the dish with chopped coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve with pappadums and chutney.

 

This recipe first appeared in the July 2019 issue of SALIFE magazine.