Basic Onion Tomato Masala | Base Masala for Indian Curries

Onion Tomato Masala, is the base gravy for many indian dishes,you can make paneer butter masala, mushroom masala ,aloo curry & many more with this one base gravy. When we were in bangalore, i had a chance to sneak peek into the kitchen of the restaurant where we usually brought the north indian curries. They had the large vessel of some gravy, so depends on the order, they sauted the veggies and add the already prepared gravy & some spices. That's it ,pipping hot gravy is ready to serve. And even you can see the same procedure in any road side food stalls in India. 

This gravy idea is totally inspired from those restaurants & stalls. After so many trials, i'm able to achieve what i'm looking for.This gravy is so versatile, just play around with the spices as per your liking. You can prepared this gravy ahead and store in refrigerator for weeks, when you need some gravy,reheat the gravy & saute the veggies or panner and add into gravy. Stay tuned,will share soon, how i prepared mushroom masala with this gravy.

Onion Tomato Masala

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Onion(large) - 1
Tomato(medium) - 2
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
Fennel seed - 1/4 tsp
Cashew - 5
Oil - 2 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 2 
Cardamom - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste 

Procedure

First peel the onions,garlic & ginger and chop them along with tomato roughly into pieces. Heat the pan with 1 tsp of oil, add the cumin & fennel seed let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the onions, ginger & garlic along with 1/4 tsp of  salt and saute till the onions become translucent.Then add the cashews and tomato and saute till the tomato becomes mushy.Switch off the flame and let it cool completely.Put the onion & tomato masala into mixie/blender jar and grind them into smooth paste. Heat the pan with remaining oil and add the whole spices(cinnamon, cloves and cardamom),let it fry in oil for 30 secs.Then add the masala paste and spice powder(turmeric, red chili & coriander powder) and salt.If needed add some water and cover the pan with lid and cook for 8-10 mins in medium flame. By the time, the raw smell of the masala is gone,open the lid and keep in low flame until the oil separates on the top. Finally add the garam masala & mix well and switch off the flame.That's it, Basic Onion Tomato masala for indian curry is ready.

Notes:

• Adding cashews give creaminess & richness to the gravy.
• If the tomato has more tart taste, add 1/2 tsp of sugar to balance the gravy.
• To make the gravy even more richer, add 2 tbsp of cream at the end.
• The color of gravy depends on red chili powder and the tomato, so to get bright red color, always use well ripe tomato & good quality red chili powder.