Cookbook:Basic Indian Tomato Gravy

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| India | Vegan Cuisine

Basic Indian Tomato Gravy
Category	Sauce recipes
Servings	4
Time	20 minutes
Difficulty

This traditional Indian tomato gravy can be used as a base for all sorts of vegetables, boiled eggs, cubed paneer or chicken. This is often referred to as a "curry". It is usually eaten with plain white rice or rice mixtures.

Ingredients

• 5 tomatoes, chopped large
• 1 onion, diced small
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• ½ teaspoon ginger paste
• 5 cloves garlic, pounded
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• salt to taste

Procedure

1. Fry the onions in hot ghee until they start to brown.
2. Add the ginger and garlic and stir, then add the powdered spices. Blend well.
3. Throw in the tomatoes and salt to taste.
4. Turn the flame down to medium and cover for 10 minutes.
5. This will form a spicy gravy to which you can add any mixture of vegetables or chicken. If using cooked vegetables, keep the pot on the flame until they are uniformly heated; for uncooked vegetables, cook as long as necessary. For raw whole chicken, be sure to cook for at least 20 minutes.

Serves 4.

Notes, tips, and variations

• I like to add a little cayenne and cumin, and leave out the chili powder (though "chili powder" in Indian recipes is cayenne, i.e., powdered chilis!)
• I tried using lamb with this gravy, but the flavours conflict. I would recommend sticking with chicken or vegetables for this recipe. Also, depending on the freshness of your spices, you may want to add extra spices in the same ratio to achieve a stronger flavour.
• Generally for lamb you can use all the above ingredients except the tomatoes. Marination is preferred. Cloves and cinnamon can be added to give an excellent flavour.
• For a vegetarian version of this recipe, substitute the ghee with coconut oil or other vegetable oil.
• You can also use a pressure cooker instead of a stove top- cook it for 6-7 whistles on a medium flame.
• You can also use fried onions to get a gravy with a different flavor- this goes well with chicken.