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Curry Base Recipes => Curry Sauce, Curry Base , Curry Gravy Recipes, Secret Curry Base => Topic started by: Masala Mark on August 20, 2010, 02:26 PM

Title: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Masala Mark on August 20, 2010, 02:26 PM
Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in getting these posted. I can see know why pics & vids make such a difference as it's kind of hard trying to describe some things like the consistency of things at various stages.

I'm sure a lot of you will go 'Huh?' when you read one of the dishes that this goes in. I asked him two or three times if he had the right dish. The end taste of the dish in question was great though.

Reading through the recipes/discussions on this site there are often discussions about what makes this dish, this dish if that makes sense. There do seem to be big variations in different IRs recipes though. Within our suburb here in Brisbane, there are 3 IRs that we frequent. Each one of them makes a completely different Butter Chicken. One is very heavy on tomatoes but thinish consistency, another is strong tomato but very very thick with a great smokey flavor coming from fried onions, and the other one is heavy on nuts and you can only get a hint of tomato. Each tastes great but very different.

As with all things it is easy to judge and criticize things before we try them. I must admit that after making this gravy and talking with him about what it was used in, I felt like I had been duped and wasted a lot of money and time, on the chef and all the ingredients.

But 5 hours later my scoffing had changed to 'scoffing' down the food!

On to the first of the gravies...

Nut Gravy

Ingredients:
- 0.5 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 sticks Cassia Bark (approx 5cm long by 1 cm wide)
- 6 Green Cardamom Pods
- 1 Indian Bay Leaf (broken into bits)
- 5 Cloves
- 1.5 kg Onions
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder
- 350g Cashews/Cashew pieces
- 350g Almond meal

Prep Work:
- Fill a food processor with as much of the cashews as possible and add water, puree to a very, very fine puree. Repeat until all done.
- Blend onions in a food processor to a very fine chop, not puree. If the processor does end up pureeing them then it will take longer to cook and require more oil.
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat oil till just shimmering
2. Add whole spices and fry till aromatic and sizzling
3. Add onions and mix well
4. Add salt and mix well
5. Continue cooking the onions until golden brown, this may take some time ~30mins depending upon how chopped and the cooking medium, ie gas/electric etc. The oil will separate from the onions once they are cooked, this is the visual to go to the next step.
6. Add garlic & ginger puree and cook for a min or two
7. Add ~1 cup of water and mix through, the heat in the pan should be enough that the mix is bubbling away when the water is added in
8. Add powdered spices, mix well and fry a min or two
9. Add 2 cups of water, mix through and bring to a boil
10. Add cashew paste, bring to a boil
11. Add more water, another 2 cups was used, and continue to cook for another hour covered. It should be a sloppy but not running consistency, it should pour off the spoon rather then fall and dollop.
12. Add almond meal and cook for another 30 mins. The almond meal will thicken the mix considerably, additional water can be added to get back to the consistency mentioned above, or leave as is and add additional water when making a curry.

No extra water was added in the lesson, it was left very thick, and thickened up much more in the fridge. If keeping for a few days or longer then the thicker/drier the mix the better.

Use:
- From this sauce, 2 1/2 heaped tablespoons of it would be used in a single serve Korma
- The quantities listed above made enough for our family to have a Korma a week till early 2011 I'd say!
- Used in Korma, Navrattan Korma, Madras (yes, Madras! I'm still kinda surprised by this, but it tasted great. The only Restaurant Madras that I have had was tomato based so this was a very new experience for me. I looked at the 7 IR takeaway menus that we have and to my surprise they all have coconut milk/cream mentioned in them, this too goes into the Madras, more info on that one to come...)

Notes:
- It is always the same ratio of onions to nuts, 2:1. The split of nuts is 50/50 but will not be affected if the nut ratio is altered, ie more cashews/less almond meal etc.
- Cooking to a thicker paste will store better in the fridge rather then the consistency used in the restaurant
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Stephen Lindsay on August 20, 2010, 03:40 PM
Great post Mark I can imagine this producing an aromatic gravy. You say that only 2 1/2 tbsp will go into a Korma so I'm wondering if you are intending to post recipes to show how a Korma (or a Madras) would be put together.

By the way in method point 7 there is a squiggle "~" and I'm not sure if this is a typo or if there should be some other number in its place.
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: gazman1976 on August 20, 2010, 04:14 PM
Great posts - lookin forward to more from your kind self

Garry
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: 976bar on August 20, 2010, 04:43 PM
Mark,

This just shows and proves the many different variants to an Indian Restaurant style curry, I doubt anyone here in the UK has ever heard of a nut gravy before, and I can honestly say that it is a welcome addition to our collection :)

I, probably amongst others can't wait to see some of your recipes from down under so to speak........

Keep up the good work!! :)
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: commis on August 20, 2010, 06:21 PM
Hi
976bar, check out "one page cook books" it explains most of the gravy styles used in Indian cooking.
Regards
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: 976bar on August 20, 2010, 06:25 PM
Hi Commis,

Is there a link to go with that or is it just a book? and if so who by?

I'd like to check it out :)
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: commis on August 20, 2010, 06:41 PM
Hi
Sorry can't do links on my BB, do a google I think the bases was posted as "primers" if you can't PM me will a email addy and I will forward them to you.
Regards
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: 976bar on August 20, 2010, 07:43 PM
Thanks for that Commis, I'll check it out :)
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Masala Mark on August 21, 2010, 06:41 AM
...By the way in method point 7 there is a squiggle "~" and I'm not sure if this is a typo or if there should be some other number in its place.

Hi Stephen,

Sorry, the tilde ~ symbol is sometimes used as shorthand for approximate, apologies for the confusion.

On a side note, I made your Chasni a week or so ago prior to the lesson, absolutley fabulous, great job! Never had one before, and had never seen one in a menu either. I did end up finding an IR in a suburb close by that has it on their menu with a mention of cashew nuts in the sauce as well.

Cheers,
Mark
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Panpot on August 22, 2010, 10:03 AM
Fantastic Post Mark, it is just wonderful to have this new twist to all our passion here. Looking forward to having a go and to reading more of your recipes in due course
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Panpot on August 22, 2010, 10:05 AM
976bar, if you find what Commis is on about can yuu please point us all in the same direction, PP
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: commis on August 22, 2010, 06:35 PM
Hi
Pp, the site is called "one page cookbooks" has lots of info and recipes from the Indian sub continent. He uses the term "primers" for bases. Will try and post a link when back in the office.
Regards
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: PaulP on August 22, 2010, 08:18 PM
Hi Commis,

Is this what you mean?

http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/building-blocks-of-indian-curries-base.html (http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/building-blocks-of-indian-curries-base.html)

Paul
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Stephen Lindsay on August 22, 2010, 09:46 PM
wow that link is awesome
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Razor on August 23, 2010, 12:03 AM
That is an interesting link indeed, especially the section on "base paste"

It's got me wondering if we could make our beloved base gravies without water?  That is sweat everything down very slowly until the veggies are soft and the spices are cooked, blitz to a puree/paste, and seperate into ten portions.  Once we get to cooking the main dish, you add a portion of the paste along with 250ml water (bit by bit) and Bob's your uncle.

Think of the freezer space we would save ;D

I might just give this a go :P

Ray :)

P.S, sorry to wander off topic :(
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: moezus on August 23, 2010, 03:29 AM
Fellow aussie here down south in chilli Canberra. Thanks heaps for these base recipes. Couldn't understand how they'd get such a huge difference in flavours between a Butter Chicken and other curries without using a different base. Your base recipes clear things up a bit. My favourite IR serves a thick, smokey, tomatoey and slightly sweet butter chicken. Got high hopes i'll be able to replicate this using your tomato base. Looking forward to the recipes.
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: commis on August 23, 2010, 11:00 AM
Hi

PaulP, yes that is the site and thank you for posting the link. The early ones you use to a able to print off, what I do now is save the image then convert to pdf. There is a lot to discover on the site, some may change the way you view BIR food.

Regards
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: kalaiarasan on August 23, 2010, 03:03 PM
Hiya,

Glad to see you find my recipes useful. Here is a poster you might find handy

http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2009/10/basic-indian-curries-poster.html (http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2009/10/basic-indian-curries-poster.html)

and here are some popular One Pagers...
http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2009/09/most-popular-one-page-cookbooks.html (http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2009/09/most-popular-one-page-cookbooks.html)

/Cheers
Ramki
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Masala Mark on September 05, 2010, 07:02 AM
A pic of the Nut Gravy Paste...

(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/add5010f3b54c07f478bd5e5fd424027.JPG) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#add5010f3b54c07f478bd5e5fd424027.JPG)
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: Panpot on September 05, 2010, 08:35 AM
Thanks Mark for taking the time to post this photograph. I am looking forward to seeing where you take us, please continue to share. Thanks to guys for drawing our attention to the one page cookbook stuff. I was going to cook an Ashoka Do Piaza tonight now having followed the link above I am going to experiment a wee bit with the preparation and use the marination process highlighted by Ramki. Thanks for joining in Ramki. I suspect quite a few of us breakaway from our BIR addiction and occasionally cook traditional meals too so your material takes us on a better journey, cheers. PP
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: livo on September 09, 2014, 11:00 PM
No mistakes in preparing this one. I'd recommend 1/4 qty for home cooking.

Now to cook some dishes.
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: livo on April 12, 2018, 11:25 PM
Here is another interesting extract from The Guardian article 2002 discussing "Indian" food in India.

"'The hotels made very commercial food - things like butter chicken. Nobody ever cooks a butter chicken at home. I would say 90 per cent of Indian hotels make three sauces. A red sauce, which is a tomato sauce, a white sauce which is a cashew sauce and a brown onion sauce. And then when the order comes they add the cooked meat or whatever.' In this country, as a result, all sorts of adjustments have quietly to be made for Western restaurant eating."

The 3 sauces referred to here are exactly what Masala Mark has described in his Aussie IR method of 3 gravies.

The article then goes on to say; "Nor do Indians drink beer, let alone wine, with food. ".

This is not similar to Aussie IR in any way.  ;)
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: ELW on April 13, 2018, 07:58 PM
I remember masala mark telling me on here, the butter chicken at the place he worked in
contained  no butter at all   :o
 Then again jb's chef makes a garam masala dish with none of that either
 :
Title: Re: Aussie IR Lesson - Gravy 1 - Nut Gravy
Post by: livo on April 13, 2018, 10:54 PM
Yes, I recall my surprise at the little actual butter used in his Butter Chicken There is only 1 Tbsp of glee/butter in his recipe but 100 mls of cream and the Tomato gravy. From memory though it was quite a nice dish.  The method of 3 gravies used in combination and with varying ratios was quite laborious and the quantities took some scaling to achieve home use quantities. My notes from the time on printed sheets remind me that there were problems with amounts that I remember encountering, but in fairness he was providing a commercial process and he tells it as so, that they are huge quantities. My calculations estimate there is enough Gravy in his 3 recipes for about 100 curries.

These gravies are very concentrated in spice levels and flavours. Consequently, only water is added along with them in the dish preparation stages.  ie; No normal BIR style Base Gravy at all.

I gave it a try and it worked but it wasn't what I was after at the time. I may revisit the method again now that I have better understanding of curries in general.  Unfortunately, he didn't follow up with very many actual dish recipes.