Curry Base (for Tikka Masala or other curry dishes)

Curry Base

Makes 12 cups which is enough for 4 batches of Tikka Masala.
from: http://myfancypantry.com/

The Spice Mix:
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon  coriander (seeds)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 small 1″ piece of cinnamon
3 cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 green Cardamom pods- crushed
1 large bayleaf
Mix all spices together in a bowl. Set your masala mix aside.

Ingredients:
10 onions, sliced thin
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
12 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 tbsp. ghee
salt/pepper to taste



Directions:

Heat oil and ghee in a large pan, over medium high heat.  Once it’s nice and hot, toss in your masala mix.  Fry the spices-being careful nothing burns.  Stir around a while until everything is nice and fragrant…and no longer raw.  Add the ginger and garlic.  Stir-fry for a minute or so, just until it lets off a nice smell.  Add the onions.  Mix everything together really well so that the onions are covered with the masala.

The onions are covered with the masala mixture and are starting to reduce in size.

While the onions cook down, slice the pepper and grate the carrot.  Once the onions have gone soft and translucent (they will also shrink quite a lot), add the pepper and carrot.

Cook the vegetables until they go soft (you could also toss in about a cup of shredded cabbage, if you want).  Once the vegetables have softened properly, add the tomatoes and water to the mixture.  Stir everything together, mixing well.

Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about a half hour.  Once it’s well cooked and all the flavors have had a little time to mingle, blend the mixture into a smooth, creamy looking gravy.

Pour all the gravy back into the pan and simmer for about 15 to 20 more minutes.

You can taste the gravy—it’ll be a little bland will desperately need salt. Do not add salt at this point. You will add salt later once you are finishing the Tikka Masala.

Once you’ve let everything cool for a while, pour it into containers to freeze/use.  You can keep it in your fridge for a few days, but any longer you should freeze it.