Zaal Restaurant - Curry Gravy / GarabiThis base gravy / Garabi recipe is a scaled down version of the exact base that is used in the Zaal restaurant as taught by the owner Az. The recipe has not been tried on a smaller scale than this.
Credits and thanks to Az and his staff @ Zaal restaurant in Fleet (
http://www.zaalfleet.com/ )
Thanks to forum member JB and the Fleet 5 for the original notes and post (
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7859.0 )
Onion Base StageIndian Restaurant Base Sauce LessonUse a pot roughly eight to ten litres in capacity. The one in this example is around 10 liters capacity.
Fill it just over three quarters full of chopped English / Dutch onions. Do not use milder Spanish onions. In this example there is 4Kg of onions in the pot.
It is suggested not leave the onions whole in the pot. Chopped onions will cook more quickly (Especially if its busy in a restaurant and it makes no difference to their sweetness when cooking).
The level chef spoon volume used in this example is 3 x tablespoons capacity.
Then add:
1 x chopped carrot (100g)
1 x chopped green pepper (120g)
1 x sliced potato (140g)
1 x desert spoon of salt (15g)
1 x desert spoon of ginger / garlic paste (25g) - (50 x 50 ratio is fine)
2 x litres of water
2 x chef spoons of vegetable oil
Put the lid on and bring to the boil.
Boil it for at least an hour, making sure the bottom doesn't catch. If it does add a little more water. There is not an exact cooking time as to when it's ready. Like most things it is done by eye and when the onions begin to 'melt' it is time to move to the next stages.
Akhni Stock StageMedium saucepan on the boil and add a few Cinnamon sticks, a small handful of green cardamon pods and about six bay leaves ( Asian / Indian bay is preferred ) . Leave to boil for about ten minutes then strain the mixture and put the strained water into the original onion and carrot base.
*** Avoid just adding the whole spices to the original mixture - this may seem like a shortcut but is a recipe for disaster. You would have trouble trying to fish them out and the whole spices will never blend smooth enough to leave in the base. The Akhni stock whole spices can be recycled and used again.
Fry Spices StageBritish Indian Restaurant BIR Base Gravy Curry Sauce
In a frying pan add:
1 x heaped chef spoon of veg ghee (100g)
*** Veg ghee is strongly preferred *** However substitute with Sunflower oil or similar if you cannot get hold of veg ghee or do not want to use it.
1 x chef spoon of ginger / garlic paste (120g) - (50 x 50 ratio is fine)
Cook until the g&g mixture goes slightly brown.
0.5 (half) x chef spoon mix powder
( Zaal mix powder
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7863.0 )
OR
( I like to use Abdul 8 spice
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6176.0 )
2 tsp x standard chili powder
3/4 (Three quarters) x chef spoon of turmeric
4 x chef spoons blended peeled tomatoes
Cook the spice mix fairly hard taking care not to burn the spices. It is important to cook the rawness out of the spices. It helps to add the blended tomatoes a spoon at a time to keep the mixture moving.
After cooking for around 4 minutes add to the blended onion mixture. Bring the mixture to the boil and then leave to simmer. As it simmers on the stove top the oil will gradually rise to the surface. This is a good indicator that the base is now ready.
Leave to cool then thoroughly blend. Note that the base may need thinning with water at this stage if it is too thick.
The gravy made should be slightly sweet with just a mild curry flavour so it could be used in everything from a Vindaloo to a Tikka Massla. This quantity of ingredients will produce around 16 or more 350ml portions of gravy. If done right, you may well notice that your currys now actually smell of that magic aroma that one associates with a good British Indian Restaurant (BIR).
nasty.