Topic: Speedy no onion flexi-curry

[Tomdip]

Not 100% sure where to post this but here goes - apols if in the wrong place.

Like many on here I enjoy homestyle indian style cooking as well as BIR  ? and like to find cross-overs and cheats  ie using curry base instead of frying onions/garlic/ginger in a traditional recipe.

While following Manjulas recipe for Chickpea curry I was happily surprised by the texture and consistency of the sauce.  By playing around a bit you get a lovely, speedy and flexible mini-curry base for tweaking into all your favourite curries.

The original recipe and video here - http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/01/28/chola-chana-masala/    She uses a lot of salt! And a bit more water than I do.

Flexi Version
Serves 1
Main ingredient of choice ? veg/meat etc
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon gram flour (Besan)
1 large tomato
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon chopped green chilies
2 tsp of spice mix of your choice
half teaspoon chilli powder
half tsp sugar
half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chopped coriander

1.Blend the tomato, and ginger to make a puree. (or add tsp ginger puree)
2.Heat the oil in a saucepan.
3.Add  cumin seeds.
4.After the cumin seeds pop add the gram flour and stir-fry for a minute.
5.Add the tomato puree, spice mix, chilli powder and cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat.
6.The mixture will start leaving the oil and will reduce to about half in quantity.
7.Add your main ingredient of choice and a 175ml water or stock and let it cook for at least 7 to 8 minutes on medium heat
8.Cook till your main ingredient is done ? add more water or simmer to get the consistency of sauce you want .  Sprinkle on the green stuff.

There is a marked similarity to BIR cooking in that you reduce the puree and spices to a thickish paste ? before adding water to make a sauce.

Sugar is needed as the tomato can make this curry a touch sour.

I have made versions of CTMs, Achars, Pathias and Vindaloos from this base ? and while not exactly BIR, it is a really quick and flexible base-less curry for 1 in a hurry!

Pics may follow

[Tomdip]

Having run out of last batch of base and fancying a curry, I put my money (or dinner) where my mouth is and used my own no-onion flexi curry to knock up a quick meal.

I used the recipe as above for king prawns- but tweaked to a ceylon by adding 1 tsp kashmiri chilli, 1 tbsp coconut powder and 2 tsps of lemon juice.

It was tomatoey, but I cleaned the plate then went back and licked the pan

[Razor]

Hey Tom,

Looks really good mate and as I fancy a curry but have run out of base, I may just give this a whirl.

Ray

[Razor]

Tom,

Couple of questions if I may;

I notice no garlic, is that correct?

What does the besan add, I guess it would thicken up the sauce somewhat?

Cheers mate,

Ray

[Tomdip]

Hey Razor,

I guess I just omitted the garlic as the original chickpea curry didn't use it, but it can't do any harm and will probably improve it.

The besan is a thickening agent in place of the onions. I found out the missus had thrown mine away so I just reduced the sauce a bit more.

[Razor]

Hi Top,

Well I gave this a go tonight except, I didn't have any besan in so I chopped two onions and gently fried them until soft.  I then blitzed them along with 2 medium chopped tomatoes, 3 green chillies, 2 tsp Garlic/ginger paste

I then passed this mixture through a sieve and got rid of about a dsp of 'gunk'

Then, into 2 tbs of hot oil, I added 2 tsp of my spice mix, and 1 tsp of garlic/ginger paste.  Then I added 2 chefspoons of the tomato mixture along with the chicken.  I carried on adding the tomato mixture 2 chefspoons at a time until all was used.

I let the whole thing simmer for about 3 mins, then served on a bed of plain boiled rice.

Got to say how surprised I was at how good and fresh it tasted.  The tomatoes came through quite strong but they wasn't overpowering one bit, and infact, made a nice change.  It turned out quite sweet to even though no sugar was added.  Obviously, frying off the onions before blitzing them allowed for their natural sweetness to come through.

Would definitely make this again, even if I had a freezer full of base.

Thanks for the recipe Tom, even if I didn't follow it chapter and verse

Ray

[Tomdip]

Hey Ray, glad you tried it. When I first made this I added onions and bulked up the recipe too thinking i had found a great base replacement, but was too impatient to reduce the sauce enough. Sounds like you had better luck.

The real benefit of this curry is how easy it is to make most of your BIR favourites from it.