Name: White (Hotel) Restaurant Style Gravy
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 70ml (1⁄4 cup) rapeseed (canola) oil, plus 2 tbsp; 1kg (2lb 2oz) onions, roughly chopped; 225g (9oz) melon seeds; 225g (9oz) cashews; 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste; 125ml (1⁄2 cup) single (light) cream; 250ml (1 cup) natural yoghurt; 4 green cardamom pods, lightly bruised; 5cm (2in) cinnamon stick; 6 green finger chillies, slit lengthwise down the centre (optional); 1 tsp black peppercorns or ground black pepper, to taste; Salt, to taste

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This hotel style Indian white gravy is a good one! You can make it in less than 30 minutes too.

You are going to love this creamy and nutty white gravy. It is a curry in its own right. All you need to do is heat it up and add your protein of choice.

You can also add it in small amounts to other curries to give them a delicious creamy and nutty flavour even if the recipe does not call for it.

What is restaurant (hotel) style white gravy?

This is a base gravy that you prepare to add a creamy and nutty flavour to a curry. You can use it on its own to produce a curry such as white chicken curry or just add a little to another sauce for creaminess.

The white gravy is hugely popular in Indian restaurant (hotel) style cooking. The chefs make it in large batches so that they can cook up a curry in minutes that would normally take much longer.

Why is it called ‘hotel’ style white gravy?

In India, you will come across many restaurants with ‘hotel’ in their name. Some could be hotels too but very often it is just a word used for a restaurant.

So restaurant style and hotel style mean the same thing and both titles are used either on their own or together.

Why would you want to make this hotel style white gravy?

This is a recipe for those who like to batch cook. At restaurants in India, they have no choice but to make different gravies to add to their curries.

By preparing gravies like this white gravy and also this tomato and onion gravy, chefs can quickly throw together a masterpiece meal in minutes that would normally take much longer.

The different gravies are ready for service and you can add them to the pan on their own or mix them up some to create new and unique curries.

So if you’re cooking for a crowd, these hotel style gravies make it possible for you to take requests and whip up an amazing curry in no time.

How do you use restaurant style white gravy?

This gravy is ready to serve! You could just heat it up in a pan, add some cooked or raw chicken and heat or cook the chicken through. This will give you a white chicken curry like this one.

Remember to add only what you need for the amount of sauce you require. A large ladleful will be enough with a few pieces of chicken to serve one to two people. Add it all and a lot of chicken and you have enough to serve a crowd.

You can also add this white gravy in small amounts to other curries to give them a more creamy and nutty flavour as I recommend below.

Can you up or downscale this restaurant style white gravy?

Yes! This batch will make enough for about 3 to 4 curries that serve 4. That is approximate, however depending on how you use the white gravy.

If you use your white gravy on its own as in this white chicken curry, it will go a lot faster than if you just add it to other gravies to give them a nutty creaminess.

I use downscaled versions of this white gravy in my white chicken shahi korma and white chicken karahi recipes.

How long can you store this white gravy in the fridge?

Once you have made the white gravy, it will keep, covered in the fridge for up to three days.

Can you freeze hotel style white gravy?

I don’t recommend doing this because of the yoghurt and cream in the gravy. Where other hotel style gravies can be frozen for later, white gravy should be kept in the fridge and consumed within three days of making it

Step by step photographs.

Get all your ingredients together before starting so you don’t have to go looking for things.

Add the chopped onions and fry for about 5 minutes to soften.

Adding the cashews and melon seeds to the pan.

Then stir in the melon seeds and cashews and continue frying over a medium heat to cook everything through. Stir often.

Frying the onion, cashews and melon seeds together in the pan.

You don’t want to brown the cashews and seeds but rather cook out the rawness for a few more minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and fry for a further 30 seconds and then allow to cool.

Placing the onion mixture, cream and yoghurt in a blender.

Now transfer it all to a blender and add the cream and yoghurt.

Blend to a smooth paste and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and add the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Let these infuse into the oil for about a minute.

Adding the blended white gravy to the spice infused oil.

Then pour in the blended paste. You don’t want to lose a drop so add a little water to your blender, swish it around and pour it all in.

Adding green chillies, salt and white pepper to the simmering sauce.

Add the green chillies, if using, and bring to a simmer and add ground pepper and salt to taste.

Taste it again so that you are happy with the flavour. You can leave it thick or add more cream or yoghurt to thin it out some.

In the photo above, I whisked in about 70ml (1/4 cup) more cream.

Try adding a little restaurant style white gravy to any of the following curries to give them a creamier and nuttier flavour.

The following curries would not traditionally have white gravy added to them. That is part of the fun of getting to know how to prepare your own special recipes just like restaurant chefs do.

Just add some to taste and see what you think.

Chicken Changezi
Jeera Chicken
Green Chilli Chicken Curry
Staff Lamb Curry
Railway Lamb Curry
Lamb Achaari
Aloo Gosht
Bhuna Gosht
Goan Mutton Curry
Kashmiri Mutton Rogan Josh
Lamb and Sweet Potato Curry
Saag Curry
Dum Aloo

Yield: 1 litre (4 cups))