Topic: Admin's base sauce revisited

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Made a new batch of this sauce just before the new year, I have done a bit of tweaking to the recipe so thought I'd post it in case anyone's interested. This makes enough to 5 curries (3 ladles each), which get put in plastic takeaway containers and frozen.

300gm/ml Butter Ghee or Oil
1Kg onions, chopped roughly
1 green pepper, coarsely chopped
1 bulb garlic, peeled and chopped, about 50gm
1.5 inch piece of ginger, chopped, about 50gm
250gm passata (or tinned tomatoes)
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 black cardomom, seeds only
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaf
2 tsp sale
500ml water

Heat oil in a large heavy based pan. Add onions and pepper and cover the pan and cook on lowest heat, stirring occasionally, for 60 mins. The idea is really to simmer rather than fry the onions in the oil. They should be soft and sweet when done, and not burnt.

Put the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, salt and spices in a liquidiser and blend until smooth, adding some of the water so its soup like.

Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl.

Put the blended tomatoes etc. back in the pan with the oil. Into the liquidiser now add the onions and blend until smooth. Once blended put back in the pan, add the remaining water and stir gently and cover. Allow to cook for at least an hour on low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and adding water if necessary to maintain a soup like consistency. The result should be a rich red/orange sauce with dark red oil floating on top.