Basic Curry Sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil and margarine in a small skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until very brown, 10 to 15 minutes. (Note: This is an important step; if onion is not cooked well, sauce will taste funny.)
2. Add ginger and garlic to onion and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Process onion/ginger/garlic mixture in food processor until smooth. Do not rinse food processor.
3. Place onion mixture in a large saucepan. Stir in the cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne pepper and cook over low heat until mixture is thick and has the consistency of a paste.
4. Puree tomatoes, chile peppers and cilantro in food processor until smooth. Add to onion mixture and stir well over low heat, cooking off moisture from tomatoes and cilantro. Add yogurt a little bit at a time, stirring constantly to avoid curdling.
5. Blend the whole mixture in food processor to puree it (for a very smooth sauce). Return to saucepan, add water and increase heat to high; bring sauce to a rolling boil. Cover saucepan and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency is reached.
6. To serve with meat, cook the meat first separately, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes in the sauce before serving over rice or with bread. To serve with vegetables, steam raw veggies first 4 to 5 minutes, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes in the sauce before serving.

Share It

Reviews (31)

Your Rating:

40

Lom

Jan. 9, 2004

"Tasty sauce. Definitely an undertaking, both in terms of time and mess, but worth it. I finished in about 90 minutes, but the majority of that was simmering time, including 30 minutes at the end. I ..." See moreused canned tomatoes and prepared ginger and garlic to save chopping time. The tip about cooking the onions for a LONG time is right on target; the first time I made this recipe I didn't brown them enough, and the sauce tasted like raw onions. The second time I browned the onions VERY well and was rewarded with a very mellow flavor. As for additional seasoning, while there IS a curry plant with leaves that are used in Asian cooking, "curry powder" is simply a mixture of many of the spices already used in this recipe (cumin, coriander, turmeric, etc.) I didn't add any salt to the sauce, but I served the meal with the salt shaker so everyone could salt to taste."

28

JGERA

Jan. 9, 2004

"This sauce is excellent! It is the same recipe my boyfriend, who is Pakistani, uses. I'd recommend adding a teaspoon of salt. I left in the seeds from the chiles, and it is really spicy...." See more"

20

Stacie

Jan. 9, 2004

"Shouldn't a curry recipe contain curry? It's not on the list of ingredients; maybe this is what others sense is 'missing'. I have toyed around with this recipe several times & I have always added abou..." See moret 1T of curry powder (as well as salt) with a very good result, it's even better the next day."