4 Main Gravies used in Indian Cooking (2024)

This article throws light upon the four main gravies used in Indian cooking. The gravies are: 1. Onion Tomato Masala 2. Makhni Gravy 3. White Gravy 4. Hariyali Gravy.

1. Onion Tomato Masala:

This is also known as brown onion gravy or onion tomato gravy. This gravy is also known as lababdar gravy (refer to Table 27.1).

Preparation:

Heat oil in the chosen utensil and temper with khada masala and slit green chillies. Add chopped onions and cook until slightly darker than golden brown. Take care not to bum the onions as they will impart a bitter taste. Add ginger and garlic paste and cook for a minute. Add red chilli powder made into a paste with water and cook for 30 seconds on a low flame.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook. Add small amounts of hot water into the gravy and keep mashing the onions and tomatoes to form a base and thickening for the gravy. Cook this gravy covered on a hot plate. The covering will deepen the colour. Finish the gravy with chopped ginger and green chillies.

Usage and Storage:

This gravy is used in north Indian cooking and forms the base for many curries and dishes. This can be used as tempering to boiled lentils or sauteed spinach can be tossed with it to make spinach dish. Small baby aubergine can be stuffed with aamchoori masala and simmered with this gravy. This gravy is also used of its own to make paneer lababdar, etc.

This gravy is usually chunky in texture, but if desired it can be pureed and passed through a sieve. This gravy is usually made fresh for each dish in every Indian home and used in everyday cooking. Brown onion gravy can be made and stored up to one week in a refrigerator. It can also be vacuum packed and stored in the freezer for up to two months, but the philosophy of good Indian cooking is usage of fresh ingredients.

2. Makhni Gravy:

This is a very popular gravy from north India and is used for many preparations such as murgh makhni, paneer makhni, etc. It is also added along with onion tomato masala to produce many other curries. As the name suggests, this dish is flavoured with butter (Table 27.2).

Preparation:

Make a cross on the head of the tomatoes with a sharp knife, put them in a chosen pot, and add a little amount of water. Add crushed ginger and garlic and let the tomatoes stew until soft. Puree and stain the tomatoes and keep aside. Heat the butter, add red chilli powder and cook for 30 seconds.

Add pureed tomatoes, salt, potli masala, green chillies and cook covered until the specks of melted butter are visible on the surface. Add cashew nut paste, toasted and powdered kasoori methi, and sugar. Add more butter if required and finish with cream.

Usage and Storage:

This gravy is used in north Indian cooking and forms base for many curries and dishes. This gravy is paired with light flavoured foods such as chicken, fish, and cottage cheese. The tandoor-cooked chicken tikka is stewed with makhni gravy to make murgh butter masala. It is also used in conjunction with onion tomato masala to make curries. The dish prepared with this gravy will always have makhan, which means butter, mentioned with it such as murgh makhni, paneer makhni, and subz makhan wala.

If this gravy has to be made in bulk, then prepare only the base; which means till the time tomatoes are pureed and cooked with potli masala, when the oil specks appear on top. Finish the gravy with cashew nut paste and kasoori methi on a daily basis and use in dishes. The base gravy can be stored in a walk-in for one week and can be vacuum packed and stored for two months.

3. White Gravy:

This gravy is white to blonde in colour. The base of this gravy is boiled onion paste and the gravy is thickened by nut pastes. It is usually used in Mughlai dishes (Table 27.3).

Preparation:

Heat ghee in the chosen utensil and temper with khada masala and slit green chillies. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for about a minute. Add boiled onion paste and cook until ghee comes out. Cook on a slow flame and ensure that the onions do not gain colour.

Add cashew nut paste and char magaz paste and cook for another minute. If required, little hot water can be added at this stage. Now add whipped curd and cook until the gravy comes to a boil. Cover and cook until ghee comes on top. It usually takes 45 minutes for this gravy to cook.

Usage and Storage:

This gravy is used in many dishes and curries. It is used as a base for kormas, where more curd and brown onion paste is added. This gravy is rarely used of its own, as it is very heavy. It is thus combined with makhni, hariyali gravy, etc. to create royal dishes such as malai kofta, methi matar malai, navrattan korma, etc.

This gravy should be made when required as the nut pastes and curd can make it sour and spoil rapidly. However, the mise en place, such as boiled onion paste, etc., can be kept ready in the refrigerator.

4. Hariyali Gravy:

Hariyali in Hindi means green. This gravy is made by adding cooked spinach puree into brown gravy (Table 27.4).

Preparation:

Make the onion tomato masala as shown in Table 27.1. When done, add spinach paste to the masala and cook without covering it until the oil floats on top.

Usage and Storage:

This gravy is used in many dishes around India. The green paste used in the north can be of spinach, while in south India, this paste could be of curry leaves and coriander leaves. In Kashmir this green paste could be made of fresh fenugreek leaves to create methi tsaman. Saag gosht from north India is also made by combining hariyali gravy with lamb.

This gravy can be made instantly if the basic mise en place, such as brown onion gravy and spinach paste, is ready.