How to make a tasty curry – Indian-style, tomato-based, infused with the rich flavor of caramelized onions and Indian spices. This is one of my easy go-to curries. I love how hassle-free and light-tasting it is and make it rather frequently. With small variations, I use it in a range of recipes with vegetables, beans and even Biryani. For those of you who eat meat/seafood, it works really well for these as well. When planning a party, I sometimes make it a day or two ahead. At other times, I make a little extra, on purpose – to freeze! It is perfect for one of those long days when you simply don’t have the energy to make it from scratch.
Caramelize the onions – be patient, don’t rush!
As my Mom would say, the critical step in this recipe is to make sure you have perfectly caramelized onions. While I was learning how to do that, Mom would stand nearby, watching me. Her repeated response to my “Is it done?”, would be “not yet – decrease the heat and keep stirring – be patient”. Gosh, it seemed to take forever! But hey, if that’s what it took to make a heavenly-tasting curry, who was I to argue? Over the years, I have lost count of how many times I have repeated my Mom’s words to friends and family members. When anyone laments that their curry never quite tastes like mine, my first question is “Did you caramelize the onions properly?”
As a scientist, I find this commonly used culinary technique immensely intriguing. It is not simply a process where the sugar in the onion starts to get just a bit burned. Caramelization is so much more complex! As many experienced cooks know, caramelizing different vegetables, fruits or even meats to perfection requires meticulous attention to detail.
Store-bought Fried Onions
Soon after coming to the US, I discovered that you could actually buy packaged fried onions at the grocery store. I asked my new American friends what they did with it. That’s when I first heard about American green bean casserole, traditionally topped with fried onions, often-store-bought! How very convenient, I thought. Intrigued, I wondered if it might work well in a curry and decided to try it. Turns out, it’s actually pretty good! However, it almost always has ingredients I’d rather not use on a regular basis, especially saturated oils. They usually also have a wheat flour coating, so are not gluten-free, although there are some gluten-free varieties available nowadays. I have recently also found fried onions in a local Indian grocery store without any type of flour added to it.
Dried onions – powder, minced / chopped
I also soon discovered that onions were available like a dried spice – in powder form, as well as minced/chopped. Naturally, I began to think about how I might use these to make caramelized onions fast. As a graduate student with a young family, time was a particularly precious commodity at the time! So I experimented with all of the available versions, and found that I could, indeed accomplish my objective. Of course, the curry tastes a bit different than one made with slow-fried-caramelized fresh onions, but it’s still quite delicious.
Because it’s dry, the onion browns almost instantaneously when added to hot oil. In fact, it burns to a awful pitch-black mess in about 30 seconds, if you’re not watching it like a hawk! How to make it become similar to a ‘start-from scratch’ tasty curry? Sprinkle a little water and add a pinch of sugar immediately after it browns. Then continue to stir-fry until the pasty-looking mixture pretty much dries up again. All done – in just 2-3 min! Unbelievable!
Stock them all
So, I do keep some packaged fried onions in my freezer, and also dried onions (minced/powder) in my pantry. I have provided directions for using store-bought fried onions to make this curry. The details for using dried onions are in my Recipe Notes: it’s perfect for occasional use during a time-crunch. As for making from scratch – it truly is about time and patience. Just slice the onions and fry them, in small batches, on medium heat until they become a little crisp and a rich golden brown – just not black! I try to make some when I have time and freeze them, double-bagged, in small portions. Then, for special occasions, I can pull out my ‘own’ package of fried onions to make this curry.
so very versatile!
So, check out the details for how to make a tasty, beautiful looking curry, for creating your favorite Indian foods. Let’s see… Matar Paneer, Cholay, Rajma, Kofta Curry, Dal Makhani, Roasted Eggplant Curry, Aloo Matar, a filling for Biryani…. If you do eat meat/seafood, sure, you can use it for that too! Hmm, I’m getting hungry now!
Rich and creamy – for special occasions
Sometimes, for special occasions, I want to make a rich, creamy curry that is even more tasty- how might I do that? Easy! Just add a small amount of cashews, dairy cream or coconut milk, and it will be positively decadent! Check Recipe Notes for details.
The recipe, as written, is vegan and soy-free. It is also gluten-free, if you start from fresh onions or use dried onions, or gluten-free fried onions. It can be made nut-free, if you swap the peanut oil with ghee (then it won’t be vegan, of course) or another nut-free oil of your choice.
Enjoy!
How to make a tasty curry – Indian style, tomato-based
Equipment
- Pressure cooker preferred; if not available, can use stove-top or microwave instead. Details provided.
- Electric blender/food processor for making a smooth curry. If not available, the curry will be a bit chunky.
- If electric blender is not available, one of the following tools will be useful for hand-mashing the curry ingredients: a) a sturdy wooden spoon; b) a potato masher; c) a potato ricer; d) a tool called "Ravi" in Marathi, used for mashing Dal and churning yogurt Picture shown in the directions.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup onion diced large; preferably white or yellow; if not available, red onion OK too. (it might darken the color of the curry)
- 2 tbsp fried onions must have a golden brown color – if they look pale, they are not sufficiently caramelized; they may need to be browned a little more before using. See directions
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 leaf bay leaf medium
- 1-2 whole star anise broken pieces ok too
- 8-10 whole black peppercorns
- 2-3 whole cloves
- 1-2 whole black cardamom
- 1-2 pieces cinnamon sticks small 1- inch pieces, about 1/4 inch wide; break it up if pieces are too large
- 1 cup tomatoes- diced medium about 2-3 medium Roma tomatoes; any other tomato variety is fine too
- 1 tsp ginger – shredded
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
Chilli-Turmeric-Oil Seasoning
- 2 tsp oil or Ghee Peanut oil preferred; can use a different oil, if preferred; butter OK too – use 1 tbsp, if using butter
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder if not available, use Byadgi chilli powder; if not available, use 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (cayenne); adjust to preferred level of spiciness
- 1 1/2 tsp Paprika gives good color without adding spiciness; if not available, use a different mild chilli powder that has good color- e.g., Guajillo Chile (use only 3/4 tsp), New Mexico Chile will be fine too (use 1 tsp)
Instructions
- Check the color of the fried onions: if they do not look a rich golden brown (compare with the color in the accompanying picture), they are not sufficiently caramelized. Heat a small pan, add a few drops of oil and roast the fried onions on medium heat, stirring continuously, for 1-2 mins until the color darkens to a rich golden-brown.
- Place the chopped onions, whole spices, golden brown fried onions and 1/2 cup water in an insert container for the pressure cooker (see Recipe Notes for the link to my page describing the pressure cooker and accessories); place container on the rack, (with enough water underneath to produce steam- at least 1 cup water). Pressure cook for 5 min at full pressure; allow pressure to be released normally.No pressure cooker? No worries! Follow Option A or Option B, described below, for cooking the onions without a pressure cooker.Option A: Stove-top in a saucepanPlace the chopped onions, whole spices, golden brown fried onions and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook on high for 2-3 min, then turn heat down, cover and simmer for about 15-20 min, checking occasionally to ensure that it's not burning – add 1-2 tbsp water if needed – do not add too much water while simmering. The onions need to be cooked until they are very soft.Option B: in the MicrowavePlace the chopped onions, whole spices and golden brown fried onions in a glass/ceramic bowl in the microwave: do NOT use a plastic container, even if it is labeled as microwave safe!. Also, do NOT add water at this stage – cook covered, on Hi, for 2 min,. Add 2-3 tbsp water, cover and cook on 40% power for 5 min. Stir, add 2 tbsp water and cook again, covered, on 30% power for 5 min.. Check if onions are fully cooked, otherwise add 2 more tbsp water and cook, covered, for another 5 min on 30% power. They should be ready for the next step.
- Remove the bay leaf, star anise, cinnamon stick and black cardamom. Do not throw! Set aside, for adding back in after blending the onions. Leave in the cloves and black peppercorns to be blended.If using cashews for a richer curry: add to the hot mixture; the cashews will soak and soften as the mixture cools
- Meanwhile, chop tomatoes and microwave,in a glass/ceramic bowl – 2-3 min on hi
- Shred the ginger
- Blend the cooked and cooled onion mixture with the cooked tomatoes and ginger, with a cup of water, till smooth. You can make this puree as a do-ahead, if you wish. It also freezes well for several weeks, if you decide to make extra. See Recipe Notes for details.
- If you don't have an electric blender, it's OK. Follow these directions to mash the cooked onions and tomatoes manually:First, drain most of the liquid into another bowl. Now mash the solids to a pulp using one of the following methods: a) the back of a sturdy spoon – a wooden spoon works very well; b) a potato masher; c) a potato ricer or, d) a tool called "Ravi" in Marathi (see picture). A Ravi ('Rav'- rhymes with love – 'Rav-ee' ) – typically used in India for churning Yogurt into Lassi, as well as for mashing cooked Dal. Note:The manually mashed curry will not be nearly as smooth as the one blended in an electric blender, but taste-wise, it is just as delicious. Sometimes, I actually do this on purpose, to have a curry with a different texture.
- Blended puree – transfer to a bowl – makes about 2 cups. Add about 1/4 cup water to the blender; swirl and collect the residual puree- add this to the puree. Total amount of puree is about 2 1/4 cups. Add in the spices that you had previously removed and set aside before blending.: bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. Leave them in the curry – they continue to release their flavors.
- Heat oil on medium heat. Reduce heat and add the turmeric, red chilli powder (cayenne) and paprika. Stir for a few seconds and immediately add the tomato-onion puree. Do not allow the turmeric and chilli powder to burn!
- Stir the puree. Add salt, stir and simmer for a few min. The curry is ready to be used for making a variety of dishes – vegetables, koftas, beans, meats, eggs, etc. Additional ingredients may be added to the curry, as per the details of a particular dish you plan to make – e.g., Garlic, Cumin powder, Coriander powder, Fennel powder, Amchur, Anardana, etc.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- This is the simplest way to cook the onion mixture to the desired texture for easy blending
- Slice the onions thinly lengthwise, about 1 mm thick;
- Heat 1/4 cup oil in a small wok or frying pan.
- Add about 1/2 cup sliced onions and fry on medium-high heat until edges start to turn brown; decrease heat and continue frying until evenly browned and slightly crisp.
- Some pieces will brown before the others – slide them up the sides of the wok/pan, out of the oil, to allow some oil to dribble down. Remove these pieces with a slotted spoon after about half a minute.
- I find it’s easier to use 2 spoons to do this: use the slotted spoon to ‘catch’ and a second spoon to ‘push’ the fried pieces into the slotted spoon.
- Decrease the heat to it’s lowest setting, or even turn it off briefly, when all the onions look ready to be removed. Slide them up the sides to drain some of the oil before removing to a plate. Do NOT drain the residual oil on paper towels– the oil sticking to the onions is extremely flavorful and will add a lovely taste to the curry.
- Be sure to remove small pieces of fried onion still floating around in the oil before starting to fry the next batch of sliced onions. Add more oil, 2 tbsp or so, if needed.
- When cool, store in sealed bags in the freezer. They’re good for up to several months!
- Left-over oil is very flavorful – use it up in a couple of days – just don’t use it for frying any more. Add it to soups, sauces, steamed vegetables, on bread/toast, in a batter for savory pancakes, etc.
- Heat 1 tsp oil in a small wok/pan on medium heat
- Add 2 tbsp dried onion and stir continuously- as it begins to brown, turn heat to lowest setting – if it looks like its browning too fast, remove wok/pan from the hot stove and keep stirring, it will finish browning in about a minute or so.
- Immediately, add 1/4 tsp sugar and 1-2 tsp water. Continue to heat the mixture with stirring, till the ‘wet’ pasty-looking mixture starts to dry out – about 1-2 min.
- It is now ready to be used like fried onions: add it to the raw onions and spices for pressure-cooking.
- Cashews (can use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or hemp seeds for nut-free option):
- Add up to 2 tbsp cashew pieces to the pressure cooked onions immediately after removing from the cooker, while still steaming hot. the cashews will soften quickly in the hot liquid.
- Fresh dairy cream, melted butter, sour cream or coconut milk (not reduced fat):
- Add to the fully finished curry dish – stir into hot curry, just before serving
- How much? Really up to you – I would suggest no more than about 2 tbsp for the amount of curry made with this recipe (about 2 1/4 cups)
- In the refrigerator: keeps well for 2-3 days
- In the freezer: store in 1-cup portions in sealed glass containers.
- lasts for several weeks, possibly longer.
- If planning to freeze, do not add fresh dairy cream, butter, sour cream or coconut milk before freezing.
- To thaw, use the defrost setting on microwave (heat on 30% power, if defrost setting is not available.
- A 1 cup portion may take up to 5-6 min to thaw properly. Stir to mix well, then heat further until heated through evenly.
I’ve made this with my husband and family. It was quick, very adaptable and a hit with my family!
I’m so glad your family loved it, Courtney!