Really, Really Simple Base Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp of oil not a strong one so vegetable, rapeseed (not cold pressed) or sunflower oil.
- 3 large onions sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 big fat cloves of garlic
- 1 inch cubed piece of fresh ginger
- 3 tsp mild curry Masala ('Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala is ideal!) or you could use 1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander and turmeric
- 800 ml of water
- A handful of coriander stalks
- 400 ml tin of tomatoes they get blitzed so chopped or whole
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Once hot add the onions and salt and gently fry for 10 minutes or until the onions are starting to soften.
- Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a couple more minutes
- Add the curry Masala or spices, along with a splash of water. Give a quick stir and mix and then pour in the water, tomatoes, and coriander stalks
- Bring to the simmer and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, lid off
- Take the pan off the heat and blitz with an immersion blender until you have a smooth sauce
- Put back on a low heat ready for adding to your curry. If it looks a little thick add some water. It should be slightly thinner than full fat milk.
- Use in a curry recipe as directed.
Notes
This is so easy to adapt. Feel free to add a small amount of peppers, carrot or any of the other usual base ingredients you find in different recipes. This may affect the cooking time, just cook for longer until the added ingredients are soft.
To use the base sauce you need to allow around 160 - 200ml per single person serving, diluted so it's reasonably thin. Add a small amount and reduce down to a thick paste and repeat adding a little more each time until you have a nice thick, smooth sauce.
This base works really well in a curry when you use the method of adding diluted tomato paste to you cooked out spices. For 2 people use 1 tbsp of tomato puree diluted in 200ml of boiling water. Add this to your curry when you have fried your onion, garlic, ginger and spices and let it reduce down so you’re left with a thick paste. Then you can start adding your base sauce as normal.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
