cooking > basic curry sauce

basic curry sauce

Created by hww3. Last updated by hww3, 12 years ago. Version #3.

This is a good starting point for various curry recipes, including chicken korma. This recipe scales up well, so I like to make a double batch and save some in the freezer, where it will keep for a few weeks. Make sure to store it in a solid container (such as a glass dish with sealing cover) otherwise the the whole freezer will reek of curry.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 medium onion - chopped finely
• 4 cloves garlic - peeled and sliced
• 1.5 inch piece root ginger - peeled and thinly sliced (it should look about the same volume as the garlic). Alternately, you may use jarred ginger puree, just use slightly less in that case.
• (optional) 1 mild fleshy green chillies such as jalapeño - de-seeded and veined then chopped. Add more as desired for spiciness.
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1 or 2 tablespoons concentrated tomato paste mixed with 4 tablespoons water. I like Contadina brand over Hunt's because Hunt's has a lot of italian spices added, which sort of ruins it for Indian cooking.

Method

• Heat the oil in a heavy pan then add the chopped onion and stir for a few minutes with the heat on high. Make sure things aren't burning.
• Add the garlic, ginger (if using fresh sliced) and green chili (if using). If using ginger puree, wait until just before you turn the heat down. Stir for 30 seconds then then put the heat down to very low.
• Cook for 15 minutes stirring from time to time making sure nothing browns or burns.
• Add the turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook, still very gently, for a further 5 minutes. Don't burn the spices or the sauce will unpleasant to eat. You may add few teaspoons of water if you're nervous about this.
• Take off the heat and cool a little. Put 1/2 cup of cold water in a blender, add the contents of the pan and blend until very smooth. Take care that the lid is securely attached before turning the blender on, or you'll make a real mess. You could also use an immersion blender directly in the pan.
• Add the tomato paste mixture and stir.

Put the puréed mixture back into the pan and cook for 20 - 30 minutes (the longer the better) over very low heat stirring occasionally.

You can add a little hot water if it starts to catch on the pan but the idea is to gently "fry" the sauce which will darken in colour to an orangy brown. The final texture should be something like tomato ketchup. If you have a mesh pan cover, this is a good time to use it, as you'll get splattering during the cooking process.

Acknowledgements

This recipe was originally based on a recipe from David Smith's Curry House website. I've adapted it to suit my taste and cooking preferences.

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