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Vegetable Makhani Curry | Easy Restaurant style recipe

This recipe is the Mother of all Makhani sauces! It is a beautiful, silky smooth, aromatic tomato and onion-based sauce that you can use for many dishes. This base sauce is freezer friendly and can be very handy on days you want to make a rich curry, with little effort. 
Course Main Course
Cuisine North Indian
Prep Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

For Makhani base sauce

  • 2 tsp butter read notes for vegan version
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 3 cardamom pods
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 medium onion roughly chopped about ¾ cup of large chunks
  • 1 tsp ginger chopped
  • 1 tsp garlic chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes about 1 cup of large chunks
  • 12 cashews or use blanched almonds
  • 5 kashmiri chillies
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tbsp whisked curd read notes for vegan version

For making Makhani Curry - using cauliflowers

  • 2 tsp butter use 1 tsp for sauteeing vegs and 1 tsp for sauteeing masalas
  • 1 cup chopped cauliflower pre cooked - i microwaved it for 4 minutes.
  • ½ cup chopped capsicum or use peas
  • 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp kasoori methi
  • ½ tsp garam masala

Instructions

For making base sauce

  • In a 2L pressure cooker - add the butter followed by whole spices. Saute for 30 seconds and then add the onions, cashews, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, chillies. Saute briefly and then add the water. Close the cooker and cook for 2 whistles.
  • Let pressure settle and grind the whole mixture to a smooth paste.
  • Sieve this paste and set aside. Add the whisked curd into this sauce.

Preparing Vegetables

  • Steam/microwave cauliflower until fork tender. To a pan, add 1 tsp butter and saute the cauliflower ( and capsicum, if using) until it forms mild brown layer. Add a little salt and set aside.

Making Makhani Curry

  • To a pan, add 1 tsp butter. Reduce the flame and add spice powders - red chilli, turmeric, corainder powder. Saute it on a low flame, without burning.
  • Add the sieved makhani sauce to this slurry and mix well. Adjust salt as required.
  • Add the cooked vegetables and let it simmer in the sauce.
  • Add kasoori methi and garam masala. Turn off flame. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Notes

  • For a vegan version - substitute the butter with oil and add 1/2 tsp amchoor powder along with the dry powder spices in butter instead of the curd. It adds a tang to the gravy. Alternatively, you can add 1 tbsp ketchup to the base. 
  • For a nut free version - substitute cashews with melon seeds.
  • The tomatoes I used were quite tangy so I skipped the curd in my version.
  • If using frozen peas, add it to the gravy after adding cauliflowers.