Hi everyone! Today I am going to share this basic Indian curry/gravy recipe which is the smooth type. This is the curry/gravy you can use when you want that rich restaurant like smooth curry/gravy. Like the ones they use to cook paneer dishes like paneer butter masala, kadhai paneer , Butter Chicken etc. I'll upload a pic next time I make it. So here is a recipe you can make whenever you feel like eating those restaurant style mild spicy gravies :)
Sample pic of Paneer Butter Masala Curry:
Ingredients: (for 2 people)
1. 2 medium sized Tomatoes
2. 3 medium sized onions
3. 5-6 cloves of garlic
4. 1/2 inch piece of ginger
5. 1 tbsp garam masala/meat masala/kitchen king masala/ powder of 3-4 black pepper corns, 2 cloves, 1 inch bay leaf, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 1/4 black cardamom, 1/4 star anise, 1tbsp cumin and any other spice you can find (better dry roast the spices and then crush them dry using pestle & mortar, you get excellent flavor!!)
6. 1tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
6. 1 Green chilly medium size
7. 1/2 tbsp red chilly powder
8. 1/4 tbsp turmeric powder
9. (optional) 1/2 inch piece of beet root( the amount should be like 1 inch cube of beet root)(it gives a nice reddish color)
10. cold/normal temperature milk ( quantity varies according to taste)
11. Oil to cook
12. Salt to taste
Method:
1. Grind ginger and garlic & green chilly in pestle & mortar and make as smooth paste as you can.
2. Chop the onions. No need to chop fine, for a rough idea cut the onion into half and 6-7 pieces of that half. No use wasting your time and energy on chopping onion this fine. Don't forget to take out the white part at basement, it can spoil the taste of curry/gravy. Same goes for cutting of tomatoes.
3. Heat 3-4 tbsp oil in a deep frying pan/kadhai.
4. Add 1/2 tbsp cumin and fry till you get that roasted cumin smell just right. Immediately add the ginger,garlic,green chilly paste. Cook the paste while you stir it continuously till you see garlic changing its color to brownish.
5. Add all the chopped onions and mix in with the ginger garlic chilly paste. Add 3/4 tbsp of sugar to the onion and mix properly. Adding sugar gives the onion a nice pinkish color and nice flavor and also helps in making onion get brown quickly. Add the garam masala/meat masala/kitchen king masala/ powder of spices. The taste of curry/gravy varies according to what masala you use. I personally like to use meat masala (vegetarians don't worry, its 100% vegetarian but has a nice flavor that you find in these hotel gravies.) Add the fenugreek leaves to. Add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder and mix well.
6. Let the onions absorb all the flavor of masalas that we have put in and start getting brownish. You get this really nice roasted masala smell.
7. Make a whole in the center and add tomatoes and let them cook. Mix well and let tomatoes leave their juices all over the onions. Add in the beet root and add salt to taste. Let the onion tomato mixture get cooked till you get smell of cooked masala or when the tomatoes start to leave their skin.
8. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool down nicely. It's very important that the mixture cools down. Coz once the mixture is cold, transfer the contents to a mixture grinder and add cold milk or normal temperature milk will do to. Now the milk here is a replacement for water and cream that we add to give the curry/gravy its liquid consistency and rich taste. So add milk as you feel. You can use water to, but pls add at least one small cup of milk. Grind the mixture nicely in the mixer grinder till you get the desired consistency.
9.Transfer the smooth curry/gravy paste to a bowl and Tadaa!! :D
You have your basic smooth Indian curry/gravy! :D
Now you can make a variety of dishes with this curry/gravy. I will be uploading them in a short time. Like if you want just add some fresh paneer, 1 tbsp butter to this curry/gravy and heat, garnish with fresh cut coriander and you have your paneer butter masala. hehe i'll write down the recipe in more detail some other time but just to give you an idea, its that easy :)
If you have any comments pls feel free to post them. Good or bad I would love to hear them all :)
So have fun and happy cooking everyone :)
Sample pic of Paneer Butter Masala Curry:
Ingredients: (for 2 people)
1. 2 medium sized Tomatoes
2. 3 medium sized onions
3. 5-6 cloves of garlic
4. 1/2 inch piece of ginger
5. 1 tbsp garam masala/meat masala/kitchen king masala/ powder of 3-4 black pepper corns, 2 cloves, 1 inch bay leaf, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 1/4 black cardamom, 1/4 star anise, 1tbsp cumin and any other spice you can find (better dry roast the spices and then crush them dry using pestle & mortar, you get excellent flavor!!)
6. 1tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
6. 1 Green chilly medium size
7. 1/2 tbsp red chilly powder
8. 1/4 tbsp turmeric powder
9. (optional) 1/2 inch piece of beet root( the amount should be like 1 inch cube of beet root)(it gives a nice reddish color)
10. cold/normal temperature milk ( quantity varies according to taste)
11. Oil to cook
12. Salt to taste
Method:
1. Grind ginger and garlic & green chilly in pestle & mortar and make as smooth paste as you can.
2. Chop the onions. No need to chop fine, for a rough idea cut the onion into half and 6-7 pieces of that half. No use wasting your time and energy on chopping onion this fine. Don't forget to take out the white part at basement, it can spoil the taste of curry/gravy. Same goes for cutting of tomatoes.
3. Heat 3-4 tbsp oil in a deep frying pan/kadhai.
4. Add 1/2 tbsp cumin and fry till you get that roasted cumin smell just right. Immediately add the ginger,garlic,green chilly paste. Cook the paste while you stir it continuously till you see garlic changing its color to brownish.
5. Add all the chopped onions and mix in with the ginger garlic chilly paste. Add 3/4 tbsp of sugar to the onion and mix properly. Adding sugar gives the onion a nice pinkish color and nice flavor and also helps in making onion get brown quickly. Add the garam masala/meat masala/kitchen king masala/ powder of spices. The taste of curry/gravy varies according to what masala you use. I personally like to use meat masala (vegetarians don't worry, its 100% vegetarian but has a nice flavor that you find in these hotel gravies.) Add the fenugreek leaves to. Add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder and mix well.
6. Let the onions absorb all the flavor of masalas that we have put in and start getting brownish. You get this really nice roasted masala smell.
7. Make a whole in the center and add tomatoes and let them cook. Mix well and let tomatoes leave their juices all over the onions. Add in the beet root and add salt to taste. Let the onion tomato mixture get cooked till you get smell of cooked masala or when the tomatoes start to leave their skin.
8. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool down nicely. It's very important that the mixture cools down. Coz once the mixture is cold, transfer the contents to a mixture grinder and add cold milk or normal temperature milk will do to. Now the milk here is a replacement for water and cream that we add to give the curry/gravy its liquid consistency and rich taste. So add milk as you feel. You can use water to, but pls add at least one small cup of milk. Grind the mixture nicely in the mixer grinder till you get the desired consistency.
9.Transfer the smooth curry/gravy paste to a bowl and Tadaa!! :D
You have your basic smooth Indian curry/gravy! :D
Now you can make a variety of dishes with this curry/gravy. I will be uploading them in a short time. Like if you want just add some fresh paneer, 1 tbsp butter to this curry/gravy and heat, garnish with fresh cut coriander and you have your paneer butter masala. hehe i'll write down the recipe in more detail some other time but just to give you an idea, its that easy :)
If you have any comments pls feel free to post them. Good or bad I would love to hear them all :)
So have fun and happy cooking everyone :)
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