authentic Indian curry sauce recipe

A good curry sauce recipe makes the world of difference to your meal. If you ever wondered what makes authentic Indian recipes so tantalizing, here is the reason the traditional Indian curry recipe. It is not just the variety in Indian food, but the finger licking good gravy that makes the world in awe of Indian cuisine. Yes, it is a very easy recipe and sometimes that people think it is just a curry. But there is more to curry than just some blend of spices thrown around. Indian food has evolved for 1000s of years. No wonder our civilization is the oldest. In spite of all the hardships, we did get the balance right even in basic Indian cooking!

Yes, there is more to authentic Indian cuisine than butter chicken, tikka masala and veg korma. We also called this sauce as garam masala curry sauce and works with most of the Indian recipes. Scroll below to read how basic sauce can change your life for the better.

This easy curry gravy recipe is quite versatile. Heat this base curry sauce in a pan,add water and add veggies. You can just add paneer ,peas and water to make matar paneer . Add your protein for a non-vegetarian curry. You can add this to lentils, vegetables if vegan. If you do not have Indian spices at home, a big spoon of curry powder will suffice too. Make a vegan pasta curry while you unwind. When it is cooked fresh I simply love to eat this with basmati rice, pure comfort food. You can alter spice level by adding more green chilli.

Jump to:

• Key Ingredients
• Related links
• how to make indian curry sauce ?
• Authentic Indian curry sauce recipe

What are the types of easy Indian curry ?

Whether it is intermittent fasting, yoga or Ayurveda. There is something magnetic about India. Our cooking is a mix of all tastes sweet sour bitter salty and umami. Our food may be cool or hot but it is something you will go back to time and again. After all, the key to good life is good food. There is something for everyone in Indian cuisine. Be it vegetarian, vegan and non-vegetarian. Surprisingly it is very easy to make a base gravy according to your taste and diet preferences. Whether its vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, gluten-free or nut-free.

There are two type of curry dish or sabji in India - dry and wet. Dry or sabzi/ sukhi sabji is usually made with just spices and vegetables like gobi masala , aloo beans etc. Generally they are served with roti or flatbreads. Especially in winter , we eat flatbreads at night as eating more rice can cause a cold.

Wet curries have a flavorful base and veggies/meat added.Some of the veg recipes on our site include veg kofta, malai kofta and paneer butter masala.

Equipment

• Sauce pan/ frying pan/ cast iron pan
• food processor / Chopper
• mortar and pestle
• Blender
• wooden spoon/ ladle

Key Ingredients

Refer to the recipe card for the ratio of below ingredients

• Oil (any vegetable oil )
• Red onions
• Cumin seeds
• ginger -  I prefer fresh ginger or frozen ginger over the store bought paste.
• fresh garlic cloves- this is optional, on most occasions I skip garlic.
• Tomatoes
• Turmeric powder
• Coriander powder (you can grind coriander seeds in spice grinder to make this coriander powder)
• Cumin powder
• Red chili powder
• Garam masala powder (you can grind a mix of whole spices to make this spice mix)

Using curry powder

Curry powder is basically a turmeric , coriander powder and garam masala blend, my personal preference is to use curry powder with red paprika only and omit the turmeric powder ,coriander powder and garam masala powder.

Related links

• Kadai paneer
• Moong dal chilka
• Dal tadka
• Easy dal fry
• Red lentil dal
• matar paneer

how to make indian curry sauce ?

1. To start, heat some oil in a pan over medium heat. Next, add in cumin seeds, along with some chopped ginger and garlic.

2. Take some chopped onions and sprinkle a small amount of salt on top. Then, mix everything together thoroughly.

3. Keep stirring and mixing the onions with a wooden spoon until they are cooked and no longer taste raw. Allow the onions to cook until they turn a rich, caramelized brown, enhancing their taste and aroma.

Don’t rush through this step, it will have a significant impact. Cooking the onion for different lengths of time will result in varying taste and texture of the sauce.

4. Next, include tomato paste and a pinch of salt. For a richer red hue, combine commercial tomato puree or passata with fresh tomato paste.

5. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until you can see little oil coming over the gravy. Add all the spices to the gravy and mix well.

6. Stir well and let it come to a boil. Let it simmer for 5-6 mins until it is ready and all flavors come together.
Once the gravy has thickened and you can see oil on the top, thats when its ready

8.Let it cook until you get semi-dry gravy. You can add water and adjust salt,spices if you want the gravy to be be watery.

9. Store in an air-tight container once it cools. You can store it for 4-5 days in a refrigerator or for months in a freezer.

How to Use Indian Curry Sauce in Vegan and Non-Vegan Dishes

• Add the vegetable/protein and cook with the paste for a few minutes, add water(around 1.5 cup water to 2 cup of water) and cook until the vegetable/protein is soft.
• Season with salt/pepper & chopped coriander leaves optionally, at the end as per your taste.

If you have frozen this paste, then

• Allow the paste to come to the room temperature
• Transfer the paste to a pan
• Add the vegetable/protein and cook with the paste for a few minutes, add water (around 1.5 cups to 2 cups) and cook on medium-high heat, until the vegetable/protein is soft.
• Season with salt or black pepper at the end as per your taste.

Voila! here is the easy Indian curry sauce recipe.  Serve it with naan bread or white rice. Try and let us know your feedback!

refer to recipe card for details to learn to make indian curry paste

Variations

For Jain recipes we do not add onion and garlic in the above recipe.

If you are vegan, cook the above recipe only in oil. If you want to make a thick vegan curry, you may add coconut milk to it.

if you are gluten-free, just avoid heeng or asafoetida.

If you are not vegan, you may add ghee or butter to your curry base. You may add ¼ cup of whisked dahi or yogurt to thicken it if you want a yellowish gravy. However, you have to whisk it well. If you do not whisk the curd well, it will show up as white bits in the gravy.

You can add some cashews while cooking this sauce and blend it once it has cooled down, strain it and use as a base for Paneer butter masala or Butter chicken recipe. Add little sugar if you prefer sweet.

You can make korma curry and add veggies and chickpeas chickpea korma curry.

Japanese curry vs Indian curry

Indian curry is made with onions,tomatoes and spices, while Japanese curry does not contain tomatoes. Also its not include any garam masala or spices. You can buy japanese curry blocks and make an easy japanese curry.

FAQs

What are the 7 tastes?

Sweet ,salty, sour, bitter, umami are the 5 flavors and the food served may be hot or cool as detected by our tongue making it 7 tastes of food.Add image

What is Indian curry sauce made of?

Basic Indian curry sauce is made of tomato, onion, ginger, garlic and spices. Some Indian sauce recipes contain tamarind instead of tomato.

How do you thicken Indian gravy?

You can use coconut milk or yogurt, lentils, corn starch or arrowroot powder or nuts to thicken Indian curry.

Storage

Once it has cooled down, Store in an airtight container or glass bottle for 3-4 days in a refrigerator or in a plastic box for months in a freezer. Its better to store them in batches i.e. in smaller boxes/zip lock packets in the freezer so that you take out only what you need.

Conclusion

There are different curry bases that are prepared in Indian cuisine. Having a large batch of curry base in advance is a great way to make things easier. At most of the Indian restaurants you will find such basic curry sauces prepared. In this article we explored the simplest of Indian curries made with onion, tomato and spice blends. This curry base recipe is made with onion tomato masala.

Let us know your views on our authentic Indian curry paste recipe . What is your favorite way of making Indian curry? Best Indian curry is definitely homemade!

I bet there is more to curry than when you first thought about it! 🙂 Enjoy the aromatic flavor of Indian dishes with this recipe. happy cooking!