Basic sauce for North-Indian cooking

When we talk of Indian cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is the sauce or as some people wrongly call it curry, a misnomer as curry is probably derived from Kadhi which is a different dish altogether.  Knowing how to make this basic sauce is a very useful step of making Indian cuisine.  So, today, I am going to share the recipe of this basic sauce.

Ingredients:

4 teas spoons   Grated ginger

1                      Grated Onion

1 tea spoon      Garlic paste (optional)

500 ml             Tomato purée

1 Table spoon Desi Ghee (clarified butter) or Sunflower oil

Salt, according to taste

Red chilli powder, according to taste

 

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan, add grated ginger. 

Sauté till it is red. 

Add garlic paste and grated onion. 

Continue stirring from time to time till it is reddish-brown. 

Add tomato purée.  Stir and let it reduce till it is completely solid. 

Add salt and red chilli powder.

Mix well.

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If you know how to make this basic sauce then it simplifies things a lot for you.  At times, I just make this sauce and I keep it in ready my fridge (3-4 days)/ freezer (2-3 months) as then it saves me a lot of time when I'm actually cooking.

Note that ginger is excellent for health, especially in winters.  Ginger and garlic also help avoid gas.

Armed with this basic sauce, now you are ready to enter the world of Indian cuisine.