There are a number of «basic» curry sauces, each recipe book and each restaurant owner will have a variation of the «basic» sauce. Although you may be of the opinion that your favourite eating house produces the ideal curry sauce there can be no really definitive version.
Below are 3 recipes which have been posted by subscribers in answer to requests.
Simple Homestyle Curry for Two
(An answer with the subscriber's comments)
Camellia Panjabi's 50 Great Curries Of India is destined to be one of the classic Indian Cookery Books and ranks alongside the books of other famous Indian cooks such as Maddhur Jaffrey and Julie Sahni. The recipes are varied and offer something a little extra, just like any good cookbook
should.
At the start of the book Camellia offers this simple recipe for a homestyle sauce that is sufficient to make a curry for two people with any principle ingredient.
Remember that no two curries are ever the same and «one man's meat is another man's poison» so if this does not reach your expectations try again and modify the ingredients, maybe more onion, maybe some chilli, maybe less garlic, and if you want to you can use a teaspoon each of ready puréed garlic and ginger instead of the fresh alternative.
If cooking for one, put one half in the fridge or freezer and save for another day.
Sauce Ingredients
4 tablespoons of oil
1 large onion, very finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
5mm cube of fresh ginger, chopped
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
A pinch of ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon of ground paprika
2 tomatoes, chopped
Salt
Freshly chopped coriander leaves
Principle Ingredients
Chicken curry: 1lb Poussin or 2 breast fillets or 4 thighs or 6 drumsticks
Lamb curry: 10 oz stewing lamb
Fish curry: 2 fillets of cod, about 8 oz or 2 salmon steaks
Vegetable curry: 8 oz mixed diced vegetables
Method
Heat oil in a heavy pan.
Add the onion and sauté over a medium heat for 20-25 minutes or until deep brown in colour.
Add the garlic and ginger and fry for one minute.
Add the ground coriander and stir for a further full minute.
Add the turmeric, cumin, garam masala and paprika and sauté for 30 seconds.
Add 200ml of water and cook for 10 minutes.
Put in the tomatoes stir well and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Now the curry sauce is ready. Add salt to taste.
Put in the chicken, lamb, fish or vegetables.
Add 300ml of water for chicken, 500ml of water for lamb 200ml for fish, 400ml for vegetables.
Cook until done. Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves immediately before serving.
Eat with rice or bread of your choice
Curry Sauce
Ingredients
8 Tbs Sunflower Oil
1kg Onions, Roughly Chopped
50g of Lazy Ginger
50g of Lazy Garlic
2 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Sugar
1.5 Tbs Coriander Seeds
2 Table Spoons Lazy Red Chillies
400g Can Chopped Tomatoes
1 Tbs Paprika
1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
1.2l Warm Water
3 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Method
Heat oil in a pan or Wok over medium heat. Fry Onions for 10 mins
Add Ginger, and Garlic cook for for 5-6 minutes
Add the Salt and Sugar
Cook for a further 4-5 minutes stirring regularly to prevent garlic and ginger sticking and burning.
Meanwhile coarsely grind the coriander seeds and add to pan, cook for 4 mins.
Add Red Chillies, cook for 2 mins
Add tumeric + paprika and cook for 2 mins
Stir in the tomatoes and their juice and add water.
Bring to the boil and gently simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes..
Skim and discard the frothy scum that rises to the surface for the first 15mins of cooking
Puree the sauce in a blender, or in the pan with a hand blender. Add the
Fenugreek leaves. Leave to cool completely.
Northern Curry Sauce
(this was posted to the group described as «courtesy of Mridula Baljekar»)
Ingredients
4 Tbs Sunflower Oil
675g Onions, Roughly Chopped
55g Fresh Root Ginger, Roughly Chopped
13 Large Plump Garlic Cloves, Roughly Chopped
2 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Sugar
1.5 Tbs Coriander Seeds
5 dried Red Chillies, The Long Thin Variety, Chopped.
400g Can Chopped Tomatoes
1 Tbs Paprika
1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
900 ml Warm Water
3 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Method
Heat oil in a pan or Wok over medium heat. Fry Onions, Ginger, and Garlic for 5-6 minutes
Add the Salt and Sugar. Cook for a further 4-5 minutes stirring regularly
Meanwhile coarsely grind the Coriander seeds and Chillies in a Coffee Grinder or Pestle and Mortar, add to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes and their juice along with the Paprika, Turmeric and Water
Bring to the boil and gently simmer, uncovered for 30-35 minutes
Puree the sauce in a blender, or in the pan with a hand blender
Add the Fenugreek leaves
Leave to cool completely then store in a refrigerator within an airtight container or divide equally into four portions and freeze
each portion individually.
This Sauce forms the ideal base for bhuna dishes, which are stir-fries, usually cooked in a Karai, the Indian equivalent of a Wok. It can be
added to dishes cooked in a Sauté Pan or Frying Pan.
Two Sauces posted by Mandeep Cheema
This is a basic make ahead curry sauce that is one of three basic sauces used by
Indian families, each family will have their own variations on the same theme.
Ingredients
80ml ghee or oil
2tbs coriander powder
1 tbs fenugreek powder
1 tbs cumin powder
1 tbs chilli powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs turmeric powder
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp crushed curry leaves
1 tbs chopped green coriander leaves
300ml coconut milk
75ml tamarind, soaked and pulped
Salt to taste
150ml water
1 tbs cornflour
Method
Chop together the ginger, curry leaves and coriander leaves with the minimum of water to form a paste.
Mix the cornflour with the water.
Heat the oil or ghee in a wok or karhai until it is very hot. Put into the hot
oil the following powders in this order; coriander, fenugreek, cumin, chilli,
black pepper and turmeric. When the mix stops sizzling add the ginger, curry
leaves and coriander paste.
Stir for up to five minutes or when the oil seperates
Mix together the coconut milk, tamarind, salt, cornflour and water to achieve a smooth consistency
Add this slowly to the pan stirring constantly
Simmer for ten minutes stirring once or twice
When the oil seperates again remove from the heat and store in the fridge once cooled
This sauce can be added to any parboiled meat, chicken or vegetable by mixing
together and heating through in a medium oven.
Raw vegetables or meat can be added and cooked in the same way in a casserole
with a tight fitting lid but check for sufficient fluid during the cooking.
This recipe and spicing is enough for 500g of raw meat vegetable or chicken.
This is a basic make ahead curry sauce that is one of three basic sauces used by
Indian families, each family will have their own variations on the same theme
Ingredients
150g ghee
250g onion cut into fine rings
1 head of garlic, split into cloves and the cloves bashed with the flat of a knife
1 tbs coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbs chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 inch piece of cinnamon
5 large brown cardamoms, bruised
3 bay leaves
150 ml pureed tomatoes (passata will suffice)
225 ml water
1 tsp salt
seeds from 6 green cardamoms roasted and ground
10 cloves roasted and ground
1/2 tsp garam masala
Method
Put half the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan over a high heat
When it is very hot add the onions and cook until brown
Add the cloves and stir-fry them for a few minutes
Put the pan to one side
In a second pan heat the rest of the ghee to a high temperature
Add the coriander, cumin, chilli and turmeric powders
Stir-fry for 30 seconds
Add this to the onions and garlic which you now return to the heat
Once the spices are fully mixed add the cinnamon, brown cardamoms and bay leaves
Stir-fry for two minutes.
Put in the tomatoes, water and salt and simmer for about 15 minutes after which
the oil in the pan should start to separate.
Remove from the heat and add the last three ingredients.
This sauce can be added to any parboiled meat, chicken or vegetable by mixing
together and heating through in a medium oven.
Raw vegetables or meat can be added and cooked in the same way in a casserole
with a tight fitting lid but check for sufficient fluid during the cooking.
This recipe and spicing is enough for 500g of raw meat vegetable or chicken.
Notes.
Amchoor can be added to get a sourer taste if so desired.
Rattan jog (you lot seem to find this spice funny) can be added to get a deeper
red colouring.
Chopped onions can be strained through muslin to get rid of excess fluid and so
help speed up the browning process. However you must reserve the strained liquid
and add back to the pan once the onions are brown
Sauce with "Secret Ingredient"(posted by a contributor to ufdi)
Here's the best restaurant style curry I've ever made at home (and I've
made a few million). The secret ingredient..... Campbell's Tomato Soup !!!
Put the cheques in the post ;)
Base Curry Sauce
Ingredients
6 tablespoons sunflower oil
7 or 8 small cooking onions (slightly bigger than golf balls when peeled)
1 tbsp Lazy Garlic
1 tbsp Lazy Ginger
3 or 4 dried red chillies
1.5 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tin Campbell's condensed Tomato Soup
Water - 2 soup tins
Method
On medium, heat the oil in a pan then add the chopped onions and stir
for a few minutes.
Add the ginger, garlic and chillies. Stir for a couple of minutes then
turn the heat down very low.
Cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally making sure it does not brown.
Add the turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook for a further 5 mins
(very low).
Remove from the heat. Add the can of Campbell's soup and 1 can of water.
Blend either in the pot using a hand blender or transfer to a normal
blender. Blend to the consistency of tomato ketchup adding the other can of
water to get there. Ensure it is completely smooth.
Bring to the boil and cook the blended mixture on a very low heat for 30
minutes, stirring occasionally. It will turn orangey brown.
