Making Jhol

Curried Coconut Broth

Curried coconut broth 

I'm saving up to go travelling in 2018, so I didn't fly back to Bangladesh in December this year. Instead I'm spending the holidays with a few friends, and we all pitched in to cook different things for Christmas day. I made the roast, stuffing and gravy - but I did things a little differently from usual with the gravy. I'm a big fan of the traditional version made from pan juices, but I normally underestimate how much we want and make too little. To make sure we didn't run into the same problem again, I just made a broth from scratch. This is partially inspired by the super common curry sauce served over chips in UK fish and chip shops, but made a little richer with the addition of coconut milk. It worked really well with the spiced roast we made, but be warned the below portions makes quite a lot! 


Ingredients: 

• 4.00 tablespoons supermarket currypowder (or combine 1 teaspoon each of coriander, cumin and cinnamon with a pinch each of ginger, garlic, chilli, paprika and black pepper)
• 1.50 tablespoons of garlic paste
• 1.50 tablespoons of ginger paste
• 2.00 mediun onions
• 400.00 ml of coconut milk
• 400.00 ml of just boiled water
• 1.50 carrots
• 2.00 teaspoons of flour
• 12.00 teaspoons of soya sauce 
• 1.00 tablespoon of honey
• 2.00 bay leaves
• 1.50 teaspoons of cornflour

Method:

• Peel the onions and grate to form a paste 
• Heat some oil in a non-stick saucepan on medium heat
• Add onion, ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes
• As the pastes are cooking, grate the carrot

Onion, garlic, ginger and carrot softening

• Add to the saucepan, then cook on a low heat for 12 minutes
• While the pastes are cooking combine the coconut milk, soya sauce and honey
• Add the flour and curry powder to the saucepan and cook for 1 minute
• Gradually stir in the coconut stock, stirring until fully combined

Broth boiling away

• Add the bay leaves, turn the heat up to high and bring the broth to boil
• Turn down the heat to medium, and simmer the broth for 20 minutes or so
• Mix the cornflour with a little lukewarm water and make a slurry
• Add to broth and mix in, and cook for a final 2 minutes before taking off the heat
• The broth will thicken as it cools
• Serve in a jug alongside roasts or as a sauce for chips