Chef Guide to Making Curry & Naan at Home

This masterclass from Fallow's Chef Will delivers a refined blueprint for a British classic: the "Ruby Murray." By breaking down the components of a chicken curry, pilau rice, and handmade naan, the demonstration highlights how professional kitchen principles—such as layering aromatics, controlling fat-to-acid ratios, and utilising dual-leavening agents—can lift everyday comfort food into a restaurant-calibre dish.

Layering Spice and Fat in the Base Sauce

The foundation of this curry relies on a highly structured assembly of aromatics and spices. Rather than relying on pre-packaged pastes or late-stage dry powder additions, Chef Will builds layers of flavour. The process starts by caramelising a generous volume of onions to establish natural sweetness and body. This is paired with a wet-rub paste of ginger, garlic, and freshly blended whole spices, including fenugreek and coriander seeds.

Crucially, whole spices like cinnamon and mustard seeds are toasted in a separate portion of oil to release fat-soluble volatile compounds before the paste is introduced. To bind these elements, the recipe eschews water in favour of a reduced chicken stock, offering a rich, collagen-heavy mouthfeel. The final sauce is emulsified with whipping cream and cold butter, then balanced at the very end with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to cut through the richness.

Roasting vs Simmering: Managing Chicken Texture

Another key takeaway is the treatment of the chicken. Instead of poaching raw meat directly in the curry sauce, skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks are marinated in a heavily spiced Greek yogurt base. The lactic acid in the yogurt gently tenderises the protein fibres. Rather than stewing, the chicken is roasted on an open rack at 200°C first. This pre-cooking step renders out excess fat and develops a deeply caramelised exterior crust. Simmering the cooked chicken in the sauce for a brief fifteen minutes ensures the meat remains exceptionally tender without breaking down into stringy shreds.

Dual-Action Leavening for Perfect Naan

Achieving the pillowy yet chewy texture of traditional naan in a standard kitchen requires careful dough formulation. Will's recipe combines active dried yeast with a small amount of baking powder. This dual-leavening strategy ensures rapid carbon dioxide production, resulting in dramatic bubbling when the dough hits the heat.

To replicate the intense dry heat of a clay tandoor oven, the rolled dough is cooked in a screamingly hot, dry pan. This technique develops characteristic dark charred spots without drying out the interior crumb. Immediately after cooking, the flatbreads are brushed with melted ghee and held in a warm oven to keep them soft and pliable for service.