Balti Sauce Basic Sauce For Anything Goes Curry Recipes

BALTI SAUCE - BASIC SAUCE FOR ANYTHING GOES CURRY

Steps:

• Measure out the 8 spices into a bowl (first 8 ingredients). If using fresh chilis then leave those out for now. Warm up a large skillet or pot (ideally cast iron) and bring to med-high heat. Gently roast the spices in the dry skillet -- watching the mixture doesn't burn, keep stirring. After about a minute it will become fragrant and begin to get dark - take it off the heat and pour back into the bowl - set aside.
• Put the skillet back on the heat, add in the oil and bring back to medium high heat. Add in the chopped onion and cook thru until translucent. Once the onion is cooked, add in the ginger and garlic and mix well - watching the garlic doesn't burn. Next add the spice mixture back in, followed by the tinned tomatoes.
• Mix in about 1 cup of water - you want a thick sauce, but not too paste-like. Add in the salt, bay leaves and cardamom seeds.
• Grate the zest off of the lemon, add to the pot, along with the juice from 1/2 of the lemon. Save the other half for later, you may want to add more. Let it all simmer on medium-low.
• For a nice smooth sauce, remove the bay leaves and blend until smooth (an immersion blender works well).

BASIC CURRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large shallow pan. Throw in onions and cook for 10 mins, or until soft. Tip in the garlic and ginger, then cook for a further 2 mins, watching the garlic doesn't burn. Stir in curry paste and cook for another min.
• Now pour in 1 litre of cold water, the tomatoes and 1 tsp salt. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil. Cook the sauce over a high heat for about 10 mins, or until the liquid has reduced by a third. Will keep for 1 week in the fridge or freeze for up to 2 months.

BASIC CURRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil and margarine in a small skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until very brown, 10 to 15 minutes. (Note: This is an important step; if onion is not cooked well, sauce will taste funny.)
• Add ginger and garlic to onion and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Process onion/ginger/garlic mixture in food processor until smooth. Do not rinse food processor.
• Place onion mixture in a large saucepan. Stir in the cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne pepper and cook over low heat until mixture is thick and has the consistency of a paste.
• Puree tomatoes, chile peppers and cilantro in food processor until smooth. Add to onion mixture and stir well over low heat, cooking off moisture from tomatoes and cilantro. Add yogurt a little bit at a time, stirring constantly to avoid curdling.
• Blend the whole mixture in food processor to puree it (for a very smooth sauce). Return to saucepan, add water and increase heat to high; bring sauce to a rolling boil. Cover saucepan and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency is reached.
• To serve with meat, cook the meat first separately, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes in the sauce before serving over rice or with bread. To serve with vegetables, steam raw veggies first 4 to 5 minutes, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes in the sauce before serving.

BASIC BALTI SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Fry the onions, ginger and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the tomato and stir-fry, breaking it up with the spoon. Pour in 300 ml / ½ UK pint water, and stir in the other ingredients. Bring to the boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour into a blender or food processor and liquidize. (Note: this is only one formula of thousands possible. There's no more a single recipe for Balti sauce than there's a single recipe for chili. Some cooks like more garlic, some more chili powder; some use fresh chilies as well: some add yogurt, coconut, cream. you name it.)