Basic Pasanda Gravy ( Popular Restaurant

Recipes )
by Tarla Dalal

Added to 62 cookbooks This recipe has been viewed 27242 times

Basic pasanda gravy, this unique gravy is made using browned onions and boiled onion
paste, thus giving it a pale whitish colour. It is enriched with cashewnuts which masks the
mild spicy taste of the gravy. It is a versatile gravy and can be used with other vegetables
besides the classic paneer combination.

Preparation Time: 15 mins

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Cooking Time: 30 mins

Makes 1.25 cups

cups

Ingredients
For The Onion and Cashew Paste
1 cup roughly chopped onions
5 cloves (laung / lavang) garlic (lehsun)
12 mm ( 1/2") piece ginger
2 tbsp cashewnuts (kaju) , broken into pieces

For The Brown Onion Paste

oil for deep-frying

1/2 cup sliced onions

Other Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
3/4 cup fresh curds (dahi) , beaten
salt to taste

Method
For the onion and cashew paste

1.

Combine all the ingredients in a deep pan, add cup of water and simmer for 8 to
10 minutes or till the onions turn soft. Keep aside to cool.

2.

Blend in a mixer till smooth. Keep aside.

For the brown onion paste

1.

Heat the oil in a kadhai, add the onions and deep-fry till they turn golden brown in
colour. Drain on absorbent paper.

2.

Blend the onions in a mixer till smooth using 2 tbsp of water. Keep aside.

How to proceed

1.

Heat the oil in a kadhai, add the onion and cashew paste and cook on a medium
flame for a few seconds, while stirring continuously.

2.

Add the chilli powder and garam masala, mix well and cook on a medium flame for
2 minutes or till the oil separates, while stirring continuously.

3.

Lower the flame, add the curds, mix well and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, while
stirring continuously.

4.

Add the brown onion paste and salt and simmer for another 2 minutes. Use as
required.

Storage

1.

Use this gravy on the same day to make recipes like paneer tikki pasanda, if you
wish to store it in the deep-freezer for a few weeks ensure that you avoid adding curds
as they may get spoilt on storing.

2.

Cool the gravy completely, pour in food-grade zip lock bags or airtight containers
and store under refrigerated conditions. While making the subzi using the stored gravy,
thaw and use it as per the recipe.

3.

Towards the end, add the curds, mix well and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

RECIPE SOURCE :

Popular Restaurant Gravies

basic Indian gravies

Kadhai gravy
Posted on June 13, 2012 by whiteheat2001

Kadhai gravy/ sauce

This is a gravy which is selectively used in Indian cuisine for making kadhai dishes only
like kadhai paneer or sabz kadhai or chicken kadhai .
The characteristic flavours of this gravy are sweet , sour , bitter , astringent, salt, spicy .
All six flavours must be felt in this gravy to make it a complete dish.
Tomatoes 1 kg / Cream 100 ml / oil 100 ml
Ginger 20 gm/ garlic 20 gm/ g chilies 10 gm / g coriander 50 gm/ capsicum 100 gm
ginger garlic paste 20 gm / kadhai spices ,crushed (corriander seeds3 gm, fennel
seeds2 gm, cumin seed2 gm, black pepper whole2 gm, red chili whole2 no) 10 gm
red chili powder 5 gm/ turmeric powder 2 gm/ coriander powder 10 gm / salt 20
gm / kasoori methi powder 5 gm/ sugar 5 gm
Heat oil, crackle the crushed spices , add garlic chopped and saut till golden brown. Add
half of ginger chopped and green chilies , saut and then add capsicum pure. Cook
continuously till the oil separates . Add ginger garlic paste and saut till oil
comes up.Add chopped tomatoes and saut till soft . now Add half of ginger , green
chilies , a pinch of sugar,Kasoori methi powder and cream . Stir well and simmer . Finish
with crushed spices and chopped coriander.
Although the last two ingredients are used when you are making a particular dish like
kadhai paneer , and these are put in the end and served otherwise the gravy alone need
not require to add these ingredients . I added here just to clarify when to put these
ingredients .
Usage
this is the only gravy which is used alone and not in combination of other ingredients. The
six flovours mentioned above are obtained by sugar, tomatoes, crushed coriander ,ginger
, salt and spices.
Categories: basic Indian gravies | 6 Comments

Yellow gravy
Posted on June 13, 2012 by whiteheat2001

Yellow gravy/ sauce

This is a rich gravy with yellowish colour which helps in making a beautiful product when
used alone or in combination of other basic sauces. Generally small establishments
prepare only three basic sauces i.e. makhni , masala and yellow gravy to create the
menu.
brown onion 500 gm / yoghurt 400 gm/ ginger garlic paste 30 gm/cashew 100 gm /
tomato paste 30 gm / oil 200 ml
red chili powder 5 gm/ turmeric powder 10 gm/ coriander powder 5 gm/ salt 15 gm
Make a paste of brown onion -yoghurt and make another paste of cahewnut only but it
should be fried to a golden colour first.
Now heat oil , saut ginger garlic paste, powdered spices and tomato paste .
Once the oil separates , add yoghurt and onion paste .
Simmer till a boil comes , add cashew paste and simmer till the sauce is cooked well and
oil starts appearing on the surface .
The gravy should be having plenty of oil to start with as the cashew will absorb lots of oil
and the yoghurt paste should be added in a thin state as it will make the cooking easy
and smooth.

Categories: basic Indian gravies | 5 Comments

Brown gravy / sauce

Posted on June 13, 2012 by whiteheat2001

Brown gravy/sauce
This is another very importantly used gravy in Indian cuisine . The main purpose of this
gravy is to give a binding base to the curries where richness is not required and
simultaneously the curry look is also required like as egg curry. It is very simple to make
and utterly useful .
Onion 1 kg/ tomato 1.2 kg/ oil 100 ml/ ginger garlic paste 30 gm
red chili powder 10 gm/ turmeric powder 5 gm/coriander powder15 gm / salt 15 gm/
garam masala powder 10 gm
Onions is sauteed in oil till it starts browning and then ginger garlic paste is added. once
it satrts sticking to the base , add tomatoes with powdered spices and salt . saute well till
oil appears on top and the tomatoes are cooked .
Now blitze the sauce and bring it back to the sauce pan and simmer further.
We may add water if required to avoid sticking or over thick gravy .
Now the colour of pureed gravy will satrt changing from orangish colour to brownish .
Simmer for 5 more minutes till a red oil start oozing from the gravy and it gives a granular
appearance to the gravy.

Keep aside.
This gravy is generally used to make basic curries like chicken curry or egg curry where
the key ingredient is sauteed in oil and further simmered in this basic sauce till cooked Or
it can be used in proportional quantities with other basic sauces to create delicacies like
matar paneer. Here primarily brown gravy and a dash of white gravy gives a required
taste of matar paneer .

Categories: basic Indian gravies | Leave a comment

Masala gravy/ sauce

Posted on June 13, 2012 by whiteheat2001

Masala gravy/sauce
This is the most versatile Indian gravy as it incorporate onion and tomato and thus can be
used in preparing most of the recipes as the dishes in India mostly require these two

ingredients in one way or the other. This is also called Kanda masala in Maharashtra as
the word Kanda means onion in Marathi language.
Oil 100ml/ ginger garlic paste-30 gm /Onion 1 kg/ tomatoes 800 gm/ tomato paste
50 gm
Red chili powder 5 gm, turmeric powder 3 gm/ coriander powder 10 gm/ salt 15 gm
Heat oil and saute onions till it becomes evenly golden brown and crisp, but not
dark brown.Now add ginger garlic paste dissolved in water . It instantly cools it off. Keep
coking and while the water is reduced , the onions are softened as well to give the gravy
a smooth appearance.The onion in uk is very tough so extra cooking time is required .
Hence after the onions are browned , addition of water helps them cook properly.
Once the ginger garlic paste start sticking on pan and showing brown colour , add
turmeric -saute and then tomatoes , add salt and spices. Saute well , till the tomatoes
are cooked and the oil appears on surface . Now add the tomato paste to the sauce and
simmered .The gravy must look shiny and chunky yet no clear signs of onion and
tomatoes which must be semi dissolved during cooking.
Tomatoes cooks faster when salt is added , hence I added salt here after the tomatoes
are added to the onions. The cooking should be done on medium flame and if it sticks to
the pan during the process, small amount of water can be added occasionally.else it will
give a blackish appearance . All the gravies must be cooked in extra amount of oil as it
helps in cooking and helps in retaining the freshness of the ingredients once stored for
further use.
Usage
The gravy is a base to endless dishes like paneer lababdar where the paneer is
simmered in the sauce with extra load of cream to look orange in colour and otherwise it
can always be used in measured combination with other basic sauces to create ever
favourite dishes like chicken do pyaza and aloo dum masala

Categories: basic Indian gravies | Leave a comment

White gravy/ sauce

Posted on June 13, 2012 by whiteheat2001

White gravy/sauce
This sauce was developed during the moghul era,when the moghul emperors wanted to
enjoy moon light dinner in the courtyards of Taj mahal .The creaminess of the gravy was
prepared to match the mood of the evening .
Recipe
Onion250 gm/ cashew 100 gm /200 ml water
Simmer cashewnuts in boiling water for 5 minutes and drain. It washes away the
impurities . Mix the onion chunks with cashew nuts and water simmer till the onions are
soft. Drain the mixture and grind it.
Oil 100 ml/green cardamom, bay leaf 2 no each/green chilies 2 no/ ginger garlic
paste 30 gm/
yoghurt200 ml/ cream 50 ml/ white pepper powder 1 tsp/green cardamom powder 1
tsp.
Heat oil, crackle whole garam masala and slit chilies. Add ginger garlic paste. Saute well
till it starts browning .
Pour beaten yogurt with some water and put on slow flame till it starts boiling. Care
should be taken at this stage for temperature . If raised , it may result in
curdled yoghurt.You can beat the yoghurt with 20ml of cream . It helps in stabilization.
Once it boils, add cashew onion paste and stir it on simmering heat till oil appears on the
surface .Finish with white pepper powder and green cardamom powder .
The point to note here is that the yogurt and cashew onion paste should be thin like
pouring consistency else it will be quiet uneasy to boil on slow heat . And the oil should
also be little more than required as the gravy absorbs the fat because of cashews .
UsageThe sauce is generally used to prepare rich dishes like shahi paneer dishes where the
paneer cubes are simmered in the sauce else it is also used in measured combination of
other basic sauces to create ever favourite dishes like qorma and pasanda .

Categories: basic Indian gravies | Leave a comment

Makhni sauce/ gravy

Posted on June 13, 2012 by whiteheat2001

PMakhni gravy/sauce
Prepared primarily with tomatoes and no onion .
Recipe
Tomatoes 1 kg
Green chillies 1 no/Green coriander root 20 gm/garlic 4 pods/Ginger 1/2 piece
green cardamom, bayleaf , cinnamon stick 5 gm altogether
red chilli powder 5 gm/ salt 10 gm/ oil30 ml/water 50 ml/kasoori methi leaves 5 gm
Boil the tomatoes with all of the above and simmer till tomatoes are cooked . Grind and
strain in a pot, leaving aside the residue.
Oil-30 ml/ ginger garlic paste-30 gm/ tomato paste-30 ml
Red chili powder-5 gm / salt 5 gm/kasoori methi powder(Fenugreek)-2 gm

butter 100 gm / double cream-100 ml/ sugar 30 gm

Heat oil and saut ginger garlic paste followed by tomato paste and spices.
Pour the strained tomato sauce and simmer with butter and sugar till the oil floats on top.
finish with cream and keep aside for further use.
Usage
Makhni sauce is mainly used in the preparation of Chicken makhni and paneer makhni
where simply the pieces are simmered in the sauce and served .
And otherwise , its generally used in measured combination of other basic sauces to
create some most famous delicacies like chicken tikka masala
Categories: basic Indian gravies | 1 Comment

Basic Indian gravies

Posted on May 30, 2012 by whiteheat2001

Indian cuisine , in fact primarily North Indian cuisine -revolves around

six basic sauces/ gravies preparing the much loved dishes like chicken korma, chicken
tikka masala and kadhai chicken .
Makhni (Tomato based ) gravy/sauce
Masala gravy/sauce (chunky gravy )
Brown gravy/sauce(curry gravy)
White gravy/sauce(qorma and other rich gravy)
Yellow gravy/ sauce(gravy used mainly for enriching vegetable gravy)
Kadhai gravy/sauce ( chunks of tomatoes with pounded spices)
Hi readers , So now after a clear study about the basic sauces in
Indian cuisine we are ready to move ahead for preparing some of the most famous
dishes . In restaurants , we simply add these sauces in measured combinations to create
the dishes .Following is a list of dishes which we will deal in detail under the topic
Derivatives of Basic Indian sauces.

Chicken Makhni / chicken tikka butter masala / chicken do pyaza/ chicken

jalfarezi / kadhai chicken / chicken bhuna / chicken curry / chicken qorma

paneer pasanda/ shahi paneer / malai kofta/ paneer kali mirch /matar paneer /
methi malai matar / navratan qorma

Ill be posting the recipes of these ever favourite dishes sooner. The preparation requires
the dish to be prepared using these basic sauce. only then you can find an authentic
taste. Although I will provide a simpler version also but it will not be as good as the
painful original one . but this one will be handy in the times of emergency .. And we
Indians are so good at it ..No doubt !!!

Types of Indian 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.

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.
Types of gravies are :

1. Tomato Gravy:
Ingredients :
Tomatoes : 1kg
Onion : 500gm
Tomato Puree : 200ml
Chilli Powder : 30gms
Ginger Garlic Paste : 05gms
Whole Garam masala : 02gms
Method:
a) Boil tomatoes by adding onions, whole garam masala. Make a puree of it.
b) Add ginger garlic paste, salt, chilli powder, and tomato puree and boil it for about 20
minutes. It is also called the lababdar gravy.
c) The second variation of this gravy is makhani gravy in which we add butter, cream and
fenugreek powder. According to the requirement

2) Cashew nut Gravy / Shahi Gravy

Ingredients:
Cashew nut : 200gms
Almonds: 50gms
Khus khus : 25gms
Ginger-Garlic paste: 5gms
Onions : 50gms
small green cardamom : 1-2gms
Bayleaf : 2nos
Method:
a) Boil cashew and khus khus together.
b) Make a boiled onion paste and almond paste.
c) Put some oil in a wok and add garam masala, ginger garlic paste, almond paste, boiled
onion paste and stir it for some time.

d) Add cashew khus khus paste and put it on a very low fire until the gravy is finished.
e) For the Korma gravy we have to add Khoya and yogurt

3) Brown Onion Gravy :

Ingredients :
Onion : 1 Kg
Tomatoes : 600gms
Whole Garam masala : 2gms
Red chilli powder : 25gms
Tomato puree : 100ml
Method :
a) Take oil in a handi and add garam masala, chopped onion, and cook till it turns to
golden brown..
b) Add red chilli powder, tomato puree and add the tomatoes.
c) Cook till the tomatoes leave water

4) Yellow Gravy:
Yellow gravy is white gravy in which saffron and turmeric are added in addition.
Yogurt Gravy:
Ingredients:
Curd : 1kg
Gram flour : 30gms
Yellow chilli powder : 03gms
Onions : 150gms
Tomatoes : 100gms
Whole garam masala : 02gms
Turmeric powder : 02gms
Method :
a) Take oil in a handi and add whole garam masala, chopped onions. Cook till brown
.Add tomatoes and cook.
b) Make a mixture of curd, gram flour, yellow chilli powder,turmeric powder.
c) Pass through a strainer, into the onion & tomato, and boil.
d) Reduce it to the required consistency.
e) It is basic Rajasthani gravy, which is sour in taste.

5) Malai Gravy :

Ginger Garlic paste : 15gms

Onions : 250gms
Cumin powder 20gms
Turmeric powder : 10gms
Red chilli powder : 15gms
Coconut milk : 1ltr
Method :
a) Take oil in a handi. Put raw onion's paste, cook till pink.
b) Add ginger garlic paste and cook till it is brown.
c) Add turmeric powder, Cumin powder, and cook further.
d) Add the coconut milk and reduce till thick.
e) This gravy is sweet in nature and it is basically from west Bengal.

6) Salan Gravy :
Ingredients :
Cashewnuts (optional) : 50gms
Peanuts : 350gms
Desiccated coconut : 750gms
Sesame seeds : 100gms
Poppy seeds : 50gms
Turmeric powder : 05gms
Mustard seeds : 03gms
Curry leaves : Few
Tamarind pulp : 150ml
Cumin powder : 20gms
Kalonji (onions seeds) : 53gms
Oil
METHOD
a) Broil all the nuts & coconut, make a smooth paste.
b) Heat oils, add the mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and the onion seeds.
c) Add the paste and saut it.
d) Add the chilli powder ,turmeric, cumin powder & tamarind pulp, saute.
e) Cook on slow fire till oil leaves the sides.
f) Add salt ,balance with some jaggery.