Tandoori Sauce and a couple of questions :-)

Tweet

A few years back on a trip to India, I had visited a tea estate in Ooty (a city in the state of Tamilnadu) and got a chance to see the step by step process involved in tea making. I found the entire experience quite fascinating and was surprised at the numerous steps involved in making fresh tea leaves into the more familiar dried tea leaves that we use each day.

This visit made me a little more curious about some food items in my own pantry. Like puffed rice (or pori/murmura),  have you ever wondered how puffed rice becomes ....err... puffed rice. I have read that the combination of rice, moisture and the right amount of heat causes rice to puff up the way it does. But I would love to be able to see how it is done at least once :-) So here's my first question to all of you out there, have any of you actually seen puffed rice being made, and if yes do share your experiences in the comments below, I would love to read about it :-)

Moving on to the second part of this post, tandoori sauce. This delicious sauce is easy to make and very versatile. You can use this sauce in your vegetable stir fry to add some flavor or in curries  as a marinade or pretty much any which way that you chose. You can even make a quick chickpea curry or a curry with any beans if you have cooked chickpeas/ beans on hand using this sauce as the base.I made a fusion dish with this sauce and that brings me to my second question. Can any of you guess in what dish I used this tandoori sauce in?   I'll give you a clue, it's an Italian dish:-)  Looking forward to hearing your replies to both the questions. Will post the answer when I post the dish itself, which will be in a day or two at most. Until then, I will leave you with this sauce to whet your appetite:-)



Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Tandoori Sauce
2 medium red onions cut fine
1 inch piece of ginger cut fine
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
5 medium tomatoes cut fine
salt to taste ( I needed approximately 1 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp garam masala ( or to taste) (click on the word garam masala if you want its recipe)
3/4 tsp tandoori masala (optional ) ( if not using use a little more garam masala)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania powder)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (curd/ dahi)

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add onions and saute until onions are transparent.

Add ginger and garlic and stir a few times. Add tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy.

Add garam masala, tandoori masala (if using), cumin and coriander powders and salt to taste and stir a few times.Remove this mixture from heat and cool to room temperature.

Puree this mixture along with yogurt until smooth.  Use as required in recipes.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

Store unused portion of sauce in an airtight container and refrigerate. Use within a few days (not more than 2 to 3 days) for freshest taste.