Making the perfect curry

I never use stock in a curry, though I don't make it in slow cooker. Tin tomatoes and coconut milk or in our favourite at the moment it's tomato puree with cream (from an Indian recipe book). Another nice chicken with coconut recipe uses puree and water.

I agree it may be your slow cooker. Mine turns everything to mush!

In my (limited) experience of making curries from scratch, I find the pastes work best, together with onion, potato, peppers etc in a slightly more solid consistency.

I always add a load of chilli as well.

It's not QUITE the same as my local curry house but a passable imitation.

I often cook beef in the slow cooker and add very little liquid. Onions seem to 'melt' into a liquid after several hours in a slow cooker.

By the way, Jamie Oliver's vindaloo is delicious. It doesn't blow your head off and is tasty like some we have had in Goa.

Thai red/green curry paste and coconut milk with whatever meat and veg or tin of tomatoes and different spices, meat and/or veg for Indian curry. No more liquid in either case does the trick for me.

My curry base is a large onion, 2 decent sized carrots and a large stick of celery all blitzed then fried off . Yummy.

I don’t use stock at all.

I blitz an onion to a mush and that is the base, fry that off until soft, and a tin of chopped tomatoes, the spices for that particular curry and simmer over a slow heat or pop chicken in and put in the oven.

Comes out great every time.

I use other veg in my curry , not just onions , in case I'm misinforming you , carrots do help to thicken and add colour , peppers hot and sweet both

I have added blended/ mashed potato to many things ( including curry) as a thickener Mick . Also coconut milk .

Cornflour is my friend in the cupboard and for something like this I would make a paste of it and briskly whip it in the mixture, maybe adding a spice colourant ( turmeric ) so it doesn't look anaemic.

just use less stock ? I brown the onions , fry off the spices , add a splash of stock to loosen everything then highish heat and a good stir add the chicken , and when it is all bubbling turn it down

I know it's not usual for a curry, but potato does thicken stuff up. I would cut some potato up very small so it cooks down well.