- 30g/1oz root ginger, peeled
- 30g/1oz garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 black cardamom
- 10 black peppercorns
- 3 cloves
- 4 green cardamom
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 bay leaf
- 500g/1lb 2oz onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (from above)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- salt, to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- First prepare the ginger garlic paste. Blend the ginger and garlic with a teaspoon of water in a blender. Store any you don’t use for this recipe in the fridge.
- To make the masala sauce, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the whole spices (black cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, green cardamom, cumin seeds, cinnamon and bay leaf) and fry until they start to crackle, then add the onions.
- Cook the onions gently and slowly until caramelised and very dark brown.
- Add a tablespoon of the ginger garlic paste and fry gently for 3-4 minutes. Taste to make sure the ginger and garlic are well cooked otherwise their flavour will be too strong.
- Add all the powdered spices and mix well.
- Add 100-150ml/3½-5fl oz water if the sauce is too thick.
- Finally add the tomato purée and cook until the oil comes to the surface of the sauce.