This recipe is meant to be used as a base for creating amazing curries. It is not meant to be eaten as a curry, itself---although you could...I guess.
This recipe will yield approximately 11 cups, you could add more water to increase the amount of gravy---just don't water it down too much!
The Spice Mix: - 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander (seeds)
- 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 tablespoon paprika (this is not hot, it mostly just gives color)
- 1 small 1" piece of cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (optional)
- 2 green Cardamom pods- crushed
- 1 large bayleaf
Mix all spices together in a bowl. Take a smell...they should smell a little pungent, but mostly good! The smell will change a lot once they're added to the oil/ghee. Set your masala mix aside. Ingredients: - 10 onions- baseball sized- sliced pretty thin
- 1 carrot - peeled and chopped (use 2 if you want!)
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 10 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 2 inch piece of ginger, minced
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used Hunts brand canned tomatoes)
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp. ghee
- salt/pepper to taste (I added a little salt, but left out pepper. I can add this to the individual curries I make)
Directions: - Heat oil and ghee in a large pan, over medium high heat. Once it's nice and hot, toss in your masala mix. Fry the spices-being careful nothing burns. Stir around a while until everything is nice and fragrant...and no longer raw. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for a minute or so, just until it lets off a nice smell. Add the onions. Mix everything together really well so that the onions are covered with the masala.
- While the onions cook down, slice the red bell pepper and grate the carrot. Once the onions have gone soft and translucent (they will also shrink quite a lot), add the bell pepper and carrot.
- Cook the vegetables until they go soft (you could also toss in about a cup of shredded cabbage, if you want). Once the vegetables have softened properly, add the tomatoes and water to the mixture. Stir everything together, mixing well.
- Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about a half hour. Once it's well cooked and all the flavors have had a little time to mingle, pull out your blender. Working in batches (I had to do three batches), blend the mixture into a smooth, creamy looking gravy.
- Pour all the gravy back into the pan and simmer for about 15 to 20 more minutes. You can taste the gravy---it'll be a little bland will desperately need salt. Fear not! This under-seasoned gravy will go on to become many, many great curries!
- Once you've let everything cool for a while, pour it into containers to freeze/use. You can keep it in your fridge for a few days, but any longer you should freeze it. It'll keep really well, I promise!
Original Recipe and Photos can be found @ www.myfancypantry.com |
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