Want to make your own Indian curry sauce? Interested in the ingredients and regional variants on Indian curry sauces? Read our guide for facts & information…
Curries are made in all part of India and generally a curry from a particular region will include the specialties or the crops of that region so each one has its own name. But since curry is a general name given to any side dish made with meat or vegetables and that includes a yellow or red base. The curry sauce is the base for a curry and it can be prepared well in advance and stored in the refrigerator for a few days. The recipe given below is a very popular curry sauce that can be made thick or runny to suit your taste. You can use it with meat or vegetables or even with chips or jacket potatoes. This is what you will need to make this lip-smacking preparation
2 medium size onions peel and dice them into medium size chunks
1/2 inch piece of ginger, peel it and set it aside
2-3 cloves of garlic peel them and set them aside if you don’t like garlic you can omit them
2 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped or 200 gms tinned tomatoes.
1 tsp cumin seeds
A small pinch of asafetida (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chili powder or to taste
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Few fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
2-3 tbs vegetable cooking oil
Start by grinding the onions and ginger garlic together to make a smooth paste. It is best to use food processor for this. Next take a pan and pour the oil in it, heat and add the cumin seeds and the pinch of asafetida. Let the cumin seeds sputter which shouldn’t take more than a few seconds. Now add the onion, ginger and garlic paste to the oil and fry till the mixture is golden brown. Add turmeric and chili powder to this mixture and stir for another 15 seconds letting the masalas cook. The next step is to add the tomatoes. Now you really have to fry this mixture well. You are supposed to fry it till the tomatoes are very soft and mix well with the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Also the oil should separate from the masalas. Once this happens you can stir in the garam masala and then add some salt to the mixture. You could also add some more chili powder at this point if you think it’s not spicy enough for your taste. Since this is going to be served as the main dish it is ok to make it stronger. Once the curry paste is ready you can simply let it cool down and then place it in an airtight container and stow it in the refrigerator or freezer for future use.
When you want to make a curry just get the masala out defrost and heat it , you can also add a little water if you feel the consistency is too thick but don’t overdo it. If you intend to cook meat vegetables in it they will also release some water when cooked over medium heat. Once the meat or vegetables are done you can turn off the heat, add a dash of garam masala and serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.
