Tomato 🍅 Onion 🧅 Base Gravy | All purpose base gravy

Tomato all purpose base gravy

Simple easy, quick Tomato Onion base gravy

This is an all purpose gravy to prepare many side dishes . This gravy can be prepared by open pot cooking or in pressure cooker. I use the cooker for ease and convenience only. Tomato onion base gravy for a variety of side dishes such as matar paneer, aloo tamatar, bhindi masala, peas masala, capsicum paneer masala and many more .

open pan cooking causes severe splashes and takes a longtime for preparing bulk gravy. If using pressure cooker, you do not have to reduce it, till it becomes a paste as that may cause burning, so after the mixture has greatly reduced or thickened, you can choose to further thicken in the open pan to a paste like consistency.

Also it will be a good idea to open cooker after one whistle and determine how much more you need to reduce and continue to pressure cook for one more whistle like I have done or continue to cook in open without closing with lid

Ingredients :

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/3 cup oil

2 tbsp coriander powder

2 tbsp chilly powder

3 green chillies

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 cup hot boiling water

3-4 garlic cloves ( increase if you want more garlic flavor )

15 soaked cashew nuts ( can use almonds, or melon seeds )

I have skipped ginger , you can add if you wish to

Do a trial of the above in a small measure, and customize according to your preference .

note on ingredients :

1. adding cashewnuts and / or melon seeds is optional, but it does give a good flavor , you can also add this paste separately at the time of cooking the main dish, and keep your base gravy simple and basic

2. similarly , any cream can be added to main dish while cooking rather than adding to base gravy as this gravy is used in many dishes and not all dishes need the cream flavor . my suggestion is to keep the base gravy simple with just the required ingredients .

3. Do remember we have added salt to the base gravy, so you need to adjust the same when you prepare any dish .

4. Extra ginger and garlic can be added as per your preference, i do not like the over powering flavour or taste of these two so i have skipped ginger and used few cloves of garlic only .

Method:

1. add onions, tomatoes, 3 green chillies, cashewnuts, garlic cloves, to a mixer and blend to a smooth paste .

2. If using a cooker, heat the pan , Add oil to the pressure pan, add the puree that we prepared add all dry powders , mix well, add salt, add about 1 cup hot boiling water to the mixture, mix well,

Important tip :

allow the mixture in the cooker to come to a boil before you close lid and pressure cooker, this way it gets done sooner and no chance of burning .

if you are not confident about the pressure cooker method, , then wait for one whistle, open when pressure subsides, check contents as the mixture is pretty thick even though we have diluted by using boiling water, after one whistle, the mixture will seem thick enough , but some extra liquid will be there, so either you can continue to pressure cook for one more whistle, or cook without lid on, till mixture is thick and oil is seen floating on top

the above method is very easy and convenient if you are comfortable with pressure cooking . for those in doubts, or beginners to cooking , do it the open pot cooking but keep a lid on ,as it causes heavy splashes , also will need continuous monitoring and stirring .

allow the prepared mixture to cool completely on its own, do not put the lid while cooling as the moisture will form inside lid and will drip into the contents, store the prepared base gravy in a glass jar , with a good seal and refrigerate . for longer shelf life , you can pour contents in the ice cube tray, allow the cubes to set after 3 to 4 hours, remove the masala cubes formed in ice cube tray, place them in a zip loc bag / freezer bags , quickly and put them in the freezer for a longer shelf life upto 3-4 months . you can take out as many cubes of the masala required . Thaw and use as required.

How to use the base gravy :

1. you will need to add just few ingredients for a dish such as adding little oil for tempering, cumin, bay leaves and necessary vegetables, the base gravy is all ready and pre cooked, so cuts your cooking time greatly, additions like butter, cream , additional pinch of garam masala , salt can be added according to taste .

2. using this base gravy you can get creative and churn out many restaurant style dishes and this method is so useful for whipping up additional side dishes for a guest .

Last and not the least, a great boon for the working people . the elderly who cannot stand for long in kitchen and stir contents , and those who cannot spend a lot of time in kitchen to whip up a dish , a boon to your kids to cook on their own , in their dorms !.A handy helper to the mom who needs a break from elaborate cooking.

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Tomato Base Gravy

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Capsicum masala

Capsicum masala prepared using all purpose base gravy