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tasty curry with tomatoes

How to make a tasty curry - Indian style, tomato-based

Pressure cook fried onions and chopped raw onions, along with whole spices, till soft. Cook chopped tomatoes in the microwave. Blend to a puree - the cooked onions and tomatoes, along with a small piece of ginger. Heat oil, add turmeric and red chilli powder. Stir for a few seconds, then add the tomato-onion puree. Stir well, simmer for 3-4 min, until mixture begins to boil. Turn heat off - the curry is ready to be used in the culinary creation of your choosing. Enjoy!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Rest time for pressure cooker to release pressure 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 people
Calories 67 kcal

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.
    pressure cook the onions with spices for the curry
  • 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 saucepan
    Place 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 Microwave
    Place 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
    cooked onions for curry
  • Meanwhile, chop tomatoes and microwave,in a glass/ceramic bowl - 2-3 min on hi
    chopped tomatoes for curry
  • cooked tomatoes for curry
  • Shred the ginger
    ginger shredded finely
  • 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.
    onions-tomatoes blended for curry
  • 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.
    Ravi- a wooden tool for blending,
  • 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.
    blended puree for curry
  • 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!
    turmeric-chilli-oil for curry
  • add seasoned oil to puree to make curry
  • 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.
    mixing seasoned oil with puree for curry
  • Enjoy!
    tasty curry with tomatoes

Notes

Pressure cooker inserts and rack:
  • This is the simplest way to cook the onion mixture to the desired texture for easy blending
Fried onions 'from scratch':
  • 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.
Caramelizing dried onions: powder, minced/chopped
  • 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.
For a richer curry:
  • 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)
Storing prepared curry:
  • 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 67kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 314mgPotassium: 240mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 1126IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg
Keyword caramelized onions and tomatoes, Indian-style curry, tasty curry, Tomato-based curry
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