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Curried Gravy

A curry gravy made by simmering onions, eschalots, and garlic with cocoa‑nut, curry powder, flour, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,901 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Curried Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and fry

  1. Slice onions, eschalots, and garlic.

  2. Fry gently in a little good butter until they are colored a fine yellow-brown.

  3. Lift the fried vegetables onto a reversed sieve to drain.

  4. Transfer the drained vegetables to a clean saucepan.

Make the gravy

  1. Add a pint and a half of good gravy and a couple of ounces of rasped cocoa-nut (or other condiments).

  2. Simmer softly for half to three-quarters of an hour, or until the onion is tender enough to be pressed through a strainer.

  3. Strain the gravy and bring it back to a boil.

  4. Add 3–4 dessertspoonsful of curry powder, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, and salt to taste; mix into a smooth batter with a small cupful of good cream.

  5. Simmer for 15–20 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Add acid (e.g., chili vinegar) just before serving.

  2. Serve with lobster, prawns, shrimps, macaroni, hard-boiled eggs, cold calf's head, or other meats.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

102Calories
2 gProtein
6 gFat
12 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Cream + oniontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together10,827 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  3. Cream + clovetop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

Cream and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Onions
Break down into soft pulp that thickens and sweetens the gravy as it simmers.
Eschalots
Add a mild, sweet savour that deepens the flavour base of the gravy.
Curry powder
Supplies the spice aroma and colour that define the dish.
Flour (in the method)
Thickens the gravy so it coats the food when cooked through.
Cream
Adds richness and softens the sharpness of the spices.
Butter (in the method)
Carries the frying of the vegetables and adds browning and a rich fat flavour.

The step that matters

Mixing the curry powder, flour and cream into a smooth batter. Flour and spice clump easily if added dry or too fast. Whisking them first into cream disperses the starch so it thickens evenly without lumps when the gravy is simmered.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, onion):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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