GRAVIES Indian cuisine traditionally gives the image and the gut feel of tantalising food steeped in fragrant

spices and gravies enriched with different flavours through exotic and amazing methods of cooking. As in the ancient civilization the Aryans and Hindus who settled in India use to have vegetarian food. But a strong impact was made on Indian cuisine during 16th century of Mughals. Since then, the wellknown dishes were evolved which have been now developed into an important culinary art of Indian cuisine. What is gravy? Gravy is a smooth liquid of a saucy consistency, which imparts body, taste, richness and very life to any Indian preparation. In other words it is a soul of Indian cuisine. Classification of gravies Gravies basically can be classified as: 1. Tomato gravy or Makhni gravy 2. Cashew gravy/ Shahi gravy/white gravy 3. Brown onion gravy /onion tomato masala 4. Yellow gravy. The other gravies found on the Indian repertoire are usually a mix and match of the above gravies or certain other ingredients added to the gravies above.

TOMATO GRAVY Ingredients Tomatoes Onion Tomato puree Chilli Powder. Ginger garlic paste Whole garam masala Quantity 1 kg 50 gm 200 ml 30 gm 05 gm 02 gm

Method : g Boil tomatoes by adding onions, whole garam masala. Make a puree of it. g Add ginger garlic paste, salt, chilli powder, and tomato puree and boil it for about 20 minutes. It is also called the lababdar gravy. The second variation of this gravy is makhani gravy in which we add butter, cream and fenugreek powder. According to the requirement. CASHEWNUT GRAVY Ingredients Cashewnut Almonds Khus Khus Ginger garlic paste Onions Small green cardamom Bay leaf Quantity 800 gm 200 gm 100 gm 10 gm 200 gm 02 gm 02 no

Method g Boil cashew and khus khus together. g Make a boiled onion paste and almond paste. g Put some oil in a wok and add garam masala, ginger garlic paste, almond paste, boiled onion paste and stir it for some time. g Add cashew khus khus paste and put it on a very low fire until the gravy is finished. For the Korma gravy we have to add Khoya and yogurt.

BROWN ONION GRAVY Ingredients Quantity Onion 1 kg Tomatoes 600 gm Whole garam masala 02 gm Red chilli Powder. 25 gm Tomato puree 100 ml Method: g Take oil in a handi and add garam masala, chopped onion, and cook till it turns to golden brown.. g Add red chilli powder, tomato puree and add the tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes leave water.

YELLOW GRAVY Yellow gravy is white gravy in which saffron and turmeric are added in addition. FEW OTHER GRAVIES YOUGHURT GRAVY Ingredients Curd Gram flour Yellow chilli Powder Onions Tomatoes Whole garam masala Turmeric powder. Quantity 1 kg 30 gm 03 gm 150 gm 100 gm 02 gm 02 gm

Method: g Take oil in a handi and add whole garam masala, chopped onions. Cook till brown .Add tomatoes and cook. g Make a mixture of curd, gram flour, yellow chilli powder,turmeric powder. g Pass through a strainer, into the onion & tomato, and boil. g Reduce it to the required consistency. It is basic Rajasthani gravy, which is sour in taste.

MALAI GRAVY Ingredients Onions Ginger garlic paste Turmeric powder. Cumin powder. Red chilli powder Coconut milk Quantity 250 gm 15 gm 10 gm 20 gm 15 gm 1 lt

METHOD: g Take oil in a handi. Put raw onions paste, cook till pink. g Add ginger garlic paste and cook till it is brown. g Add turmeric powder, Cumin powder, and cook further. g Add the coconut milk and reduce till thick. g This gravy is sweet in nature and it is basically from west Bengal. SALAN GRAVY Ingredients Cashewnuts (optional) Peanuts Desiccated coconut Sesame seeds Poppy seeds Turmeric Powder. Mustard seeds Curry leaves Tamarind pulp Cumin powder Kalonji (onion seeds) Oil Quantity 50 gm 350 gm 750 gm 100 gm 50 gm 05 gm 03 gm Few 150 ml 20 gm 53 gm 1 ltr

METHOD Broil all the nuts & coconut, make a smooth paste. Heat oils, add the mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and the onion seeds. Add the paste and saut it. Add the chilli powder ,turmeric, cumin powder & tamarind pulp, saute. Cook on slow fire till oil leaves the sides. Add salt ,balance with some jaggery.

PASTES Pastes when referred in Indian cuisine mean the ground mix of either one ingredient or combination of ingredients for a particular use. When used for any other preparation is called as paste and when it is to be used of its own as a dish is referred to as a Chutney or a masala. Many varieties of paste are made in Indian cuisine and mostly it is for the purpose of adding a thickness to the gravies.Few is some of the most common pastes used: CASHEW NUT PASTE Soaked cashew nuts or even fried cashew nuts ground to a paste used as thickening for shahi gravies and kormas. ALMOND PASTE Blanched almonds without skin are ground to a paste for thickening some of the exotic gravies and also used a base to make badaam halwa where the paste is cooked with ghee and sugar. SPINACH PASTE Boiled and refreshed spinach ground to a paste is kept as a basic mise en place and is used with other gravies like onion tomato masala to make hariyali gravy or the famous Saag Gosht (Lamb cooked with spinach) MASALA PASTE Mostly done in the western and eastern India where the spices are freshly ground into pastes on a special stone called as sil batta. Adding of spice paste prevents the spices from burning in the oil and also adds the thickening to the gravies. GINGER AND GARLIC PASTE The most commonly used ingredient used in the Indian cuisine and it would be fair to say that no Indian dish is complete without the use of Ginger Garlic paste also referred to as GG paste. Peeled ginger and Peeled garlic in the ratio of 40 to 60 is ground to a paste and stored as a mise en place