Homemade chip shop curry sauce
An easy homemade version of proper British chip shop curry sauce! Perfect served on fat, British-style chips.
Before anyone feels the need to point it out to me: I’m under no illusions. I know what this stuff looks like.
Anyone who says that chip shop curry sauce is attractive is literally just plain wrong.
However, I also know what this stuff tastes like, i.e. nectar of the gods. I bet Thor is drinking curry sauce as we speak. Which is why I’m posting this recipe despite its somewhat… questionable appearance.
What is chip shop curry sauce?
If you’re not British, I’m not sure whether you’ll have come across this style of curry sauce before. Here in the UK, you’ll find it in near enough every fish and chip shop. And you get a fish and chip shop on just about every third street… so that’s a lot of curry sauce.
Don’t be fooled by the word ‘curry’ – there’s nothing remotely Indian about chip shop curry sauce. Don’t go thinking this is some Indian delight… it’s not exactly meant to be gourmet. This is the sort of thing you might eat while you’re stumbling home after a night at the pub.
Or, you know, on a Friday night in front of the telly.
How to make homemade chip shop curry sauce
If you ever fancy making your own curry sauce, it’s actually really easy.
To make the sauce, start by cooking up some onion, garlic and apple (I know, it’s weird, but it totally works). Then add some flour, stock, and of course your curry powder.
And that’s literally it. We’re not exactly fussy, us Brits.
How to serve British curry sauce
All that’s left to do is pour the sauce over your chips, and dig in.
Of course you’ll need a big batch of fat British-style chips (none of this thin French fry nonsense). I made my own, but you may well decide to go for frozen ones. They kind of fit the theme here so no shame.
You should preferably eat your chips and curry sauce with a plastic fork, or one of those wooden ones with only two prongs (what’s with those, by the way? Utterly useless. It’s like trying to eat with a stick).
Homemade Chip Shop Curry Sauce
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Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 1 apple, peeled and finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 150 ml vegetable stock
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, and add the onion, apple and garlic. Cook over a low heat for 5-10 minutes, until everything is very soft. Add the curry powder and flour, and mix well. Then pour over the stock and add plenty of black pepper.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for around 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the mixture is thick and the vegetables have cooked right down.
- Your sauce will probably be quite chunky, so if you’d prefer a smoother sauce, just give it a quick blitz with an immersion blender. This will thicken it up a bit too. I half-blended mine, so it was quite thick, but there was still some texture.
- Serve on fat chips.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/3 of the recipe.
If you’d like to try another British classic, why not go for my vegetarian sausage hotpot:
Mmmmm looks delicious! I used to live in the UK but moved back to my home country Canada and severely miss curry sauce and chips! Will definitely be trying this one, what kind of apples did you use?
I think I just used Braeburns – just normal eating apples, nothing special :)
I adore curry sauce, always have since the first time I tried it…some people just don’t get it, but to me there’s nothing that goes better with chip shop chips (totally agree with you about those spindly little French fries…they have their place, but under curry sauce is not it!)
I’m giving up chips for Lent which will be a HUGE struggle, but as soon as Easter is upon us I’ll be cooking up a big batch of this to pour over the obscene amount of chips I will doubtless be consuming :D
Hannah’s Haven
Given my current curry ADDICTION….I kind of want to drink this sauce straight from the cup.
I must admit… I’ve considered it ;)
Hi Becca, never heard of this type of curry sauce before, sounds amazing.
mmm these looks like an amazing combo!
my housemate is sitting next to me in a lecture and says this looks amazing Becca. I’ve made this before to pretty much the same recipe and loved it. I have dauphinoise potatoes planned for dinner. Would it be wrong to have chips and curry sauce as dessert? Also there is no way I would have been able to makeit look this good!
Or dauphinoise potatoes with curry sauce… um maybe?
I’ve actually had it once in the US. An Irish man had a pub in the Kansas City area, and he had the most amazing curry sauce. He offered chips or chicken fingers with it. Either way, it was delicious.
My corner of the US serves up fries with gravy. I’m sure my family will be all over this. Thanks for sharing :)
Having never been to Britain, I can say for sure I have never seen a curry sauce like this! And I live in an area with LOTS of Indian expats and restaurants. It really is just a nicely spiced gravy, isn’t it? I’m definitely going to have to expand my curry repertoire… :)
Oh yes this is definitely not Indian at all :P We only have it on chips, I don’t think you’d ever actually make a curry with it. You’re right, it’s basically just curry flavoured gravy!
This looks great, Becca! Pinning to try! :)