We’d all like to get better in the kitchen. But few of us have the patience to do a stage or two at a Michelin-starred restaurant in rural France. We’d much rather toil away at home, Googling bad recipes and pretending we understand complex flavour combinations. What if we could get some extra help from the professionals, though? With new year’s resolutions ringing in our ears, we asked five of London’s best chefs for an insider cooking tip in a bid to up our cooking game. From homemade curry powder, to identifying fresh fish – find out what they had to say, below.

Make your own curry powder

Shop bought curry powders are fine but they don’t have the same intensity of a homemade curry powder. When making your own masala or curry powder, dry roast your whole spices slowly on a low heat and allow them to fully cool down before you blitz to a powder. If you blitz the spices when they are warm or hot you will develop an unwanted moisture in your powder.

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 dried red kashmiri chilli
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 3 green cardamon pods
• 1 black cardamon pod

Use the ingredients above, and roast the whole spices (except for the whole chilli which you add in the last 4 minutes of cooking) for 15 mins at 150ºC, and allow to cool before blitzing.

Cook asparagus in butter

We are used to cooking asparagus in water, but for a better flavour, cook it in salted butter (I use President). Trim the asparagus (use the largest asparagus you can find as they have more flavour) and then melt the butter. 500g grams will work for 20 spears of asparagus. Put the asparagus in a pan and cook it until you can get a knife through it. Separate the clarified butter and keep the white melted part of the butter that will be at the bottom of the dish. Add a drop of sherry vinegar and chopped chives, and use this as a dressing on the plate. You don’t need to add salt, but serve the asparagus with black pepper, lemon zest and the dressing.

Use a microplane

I use a microplane to add a zest of citrus or a light grating of chocolate or even a nut or hard cheese to a dish. A microplane is a very fine, very sharp grater which can be used for all sorts of things in the kitchen. For the home cook it is perfect if you are trying to impress; grating chocolate or nuts over the top of desserts can look and taste great, it also adds lightness and a different form of seasoning to your dishes. Grated almond adds a lovely nutty kick to a dessert and grated chocolate can work beautifully on a chocolate dessert.

Always prep in advance

Doing your prep in advance will save you lots of time and mess, especially if you’re cooking for a large number of people. You shouldn’t need to stress about chopping your onions while your pan is heating up and your guests are milling around. Chop them up beforehand and chuck them in. You can do it earlier in the day when you have more time or even a day or two before. Most things such as spring onions and peppers can be stored sliced in a bowl in the fridge for a few days. For Chinese food, the longest part of the cooking process is the prep, making stocks, sauces, prepping meat, veg etc. The actual cooking of the food prior to serving is very quick.

Make sure your fish is fresh

When buying fish and seafood, freshness and quality is the most important thing. The way to identify fresh fish is to look for bright, clear eyes, red gills and a pleasant smell to make sure you’re buying the best. Different species of fish cook better in different ways in the same way different cuts of meat do. For example, a small delicate piece of fish like a fillet of lemon sole cooks best being gently steamed whereas a big meaty loin of monkfish is best marinated and then chargrilled. Some fish when fresh enough is best not cooked at all. Sustainability is a big issue with fish so try and use lesser known but super sustainable (and tasty) species such as grey mullet and red gurnard.