Restaurants normally sauté the onions first until they begin to soften and go golden, add the garlic, ginger and spices and sauté for a further few minutes before adding this and all the other ingredients. It’s then cooked down for hours before blending to a smooth “gravy” the consistency of milk.

This method used the same ingredients but is a simple chop up, chuck in and chill out version for the slow cooker. Feel free to add the oil, onions, garlic and spices in the bottom first on high to sauté for a while first if you prefer before adding all the other ingredients.

The Indian restaurant curry base or base gravy is one of the main ingredients used by most British Indian Restaurant (BIR) chefs and it allows them to create most curries in a matter of minutes.