Secret Ingredient

Felix Stanley began his career with the multi award winning Damson restaurants at the tender age of 20, later to become Sous Chef at the flagship Damson Media City on Salford Quays near Manchester and adjacent to the BBC. In the spring of 2016 when the popularity of fine dining began to wane he left the UK for over two years to travel and work around the world and learn about other cuisine. This experience is a great influence on his cooking today.

Felix is currently Head Chef at the locally famous Turks Head pub and hotel in Manchester city centre and he and Beth have set up home together just a walking distance away.

Tip 1: Preparing food with spices takes time and patience. Don't embark on a dish unless you have both, because the food won't be good and you won't gain the therapeutic benefits of cooking.

Tip 2: Don't cut corners. Undercooked spices taste sharp or bitter. For success accurately follow the method on the instructional video.

Tip 3: Where possible buy your spices in larger packs from Asian supermarkets or online. Some are available from your local supermarket World Food aisle. Try and avoid the overpriced small jars in the supermarket Herbs and Spices section.

Tip 4: It's best to stick to the recipe but whole spices can be substituted for ground spices and vice versa, even though I don't personally use coriander seeds, mustard seeds or green cardamom pods. Remember that in exchanging whole spices for ground spices and vice versa involves swapping the segment where they should be added and will result in a different flavour. Use less for ground spices than whole spices. Try and avoid more than about 5 tsp ground spices in a paste as they will take longer to cook out.

Tip 5: Whilst fresh chillies and chilli powder can vary in strength, chilli flakes are more consistent and will therefore help you gauge your own preferences.

Tip 6: With the exception of fish and seafood, try and avoid serving a curry immediately, as it benefits from being stood. This should be for a minimum two hours and connoisseurs will serve the next day. Add water to achieve your preferred consistency when reheating. Saving leftovers for your partners's mid week lunch box always tastes awesome.

Tip 7: The same curry tastes different every time you make it or even serve it. This is normal and should be embraced as one of the mysteries and charm of cooking with spices and, always learning, turns cooking spices into a pastime for life.

Tip 8: For the benefit of others - if you've made one of my curries please add any tips or pitfalls you experienced in the Review section of that curry. Just click on View Reviews.

Tip 9: If you've added your own recipe to the My Perfect Curry section, write any tips or pitfalls of your own recipe in it's Review section. Use your name and this will stay on the web page for all time. Reader - the Review of a recipe by it's author will be at the bottom. Just look for his or her name.

Tip 10: Embrace cooking for pleasure and embrace the joy of sharing food, both for you the cook and for those you cook for. It's therapy for everyone and makes cooking 'from scratch' so much more rewarding than food 'out of a jar'.



©️ Felix Stanley 2019

Send us your name via the Contact Us section with a pic of yourself in your pinny (landscape not portrait) and your own Perfect Curry recipe, and we'll post it on the website. Aprons not necessary if you're overseas. We invite professional chefs (wearing chef's whites?) to give their name or to promote their business for free and showcase their food by providing the name and location of their restaurant.

If you're a YouTuber, send us the link to your own YouTube method video and we'll post it alongside your recipe. Or just send images of your completed dish.

In the absence of a Method video, it is strongly recommended to progress to these 'guest' recipes only once you're fully familiar with Felix' techniques and especially the timescales involved in making authentic but low oil curry from scratch.

Send us your name via the Contact Us section, a pic of yourself in your pinny (landscape not portrait) and your own Perfect Ragu recipe, and we'll post it on the website. Aprons not necessary if you're overseas. We invite professional chefs (in chef's whites?) to give their name or to promote their business for free and showcase their food by providing the name and location of their restaurant.

If you're a YouTuber, send us the link to your own YouTube method video and we'll post it alongside your recipe. Or just send images of your completed dish.

In the absence of a Method video for guidance - see Felix' 'Perfect Ragu' Method video.