Shorba or Sherva also known as Biryani Gravy is a spiced, tangy tomato-onion based gravy which goes perfectly with a rich pulao or biryani and brings out the best in them.
In a grinder or blender, take the following ingredients - tomatoes, onions, green chillies, chopped ginger and garlic, fresh or desiccated coconut and chopped mint or chopped coriander or half-half of both.
Grind without adding any water to a smooth paste. If unable to grind without water, then add upto 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of water.
Making shorba recipe
Heat oil in a pan. Add the whole spices - tejpatta, black cardamom, green cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, allspice (optional), mace strands & black peppercorns.
If you want you can even skip the black cardamom. Though adding black cardamom does give its flavor to the curry.
On low heat sauté till the spices become aromatic.
Now add the ground tomato-onion paste. Be careful as the mixture splutters. Stir and mix very well.
Then add turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder.
Stir and mix the spice powders with the rest of the masala paste.
Stir and saute the masala till you see oil releasing from the sides of the paste. The mixture will also gather together and leave the sides of the pan.
Then add vegetable stock. Its preferable to add veg stock. If you do not have veg stock, then add water. If making the shorba for veg biryani, you can also parboil/boil the veggies that will be added to the biryani and then add this vegetable stock to the gravy.
Stir and mix very well and then season with salt.
Again stir and bring the curry to a simmer on a low to medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes or till you see specks of oil on top.
Garnish with chopped coriander or mint leaves. Serve shorba with vegetable biryani or vegetable pulao.
Notes
For the masala paste, you can use desiccated coconut, if you don’t have fresh coconut. You can also add half-half both of mint and coriander leaves.
The allspice and black cardamom are optional. You can skip adding these spices if you do not have them.
Reduce the quantity of red chili powder if you want less spicy gravy. If you want it spicier, increase it. You can also increase the quantity of garam masala powder in that case.
For best taste and flavor, cook the Biryani Gravy in homemade vegetable stock. If you don’t have it handy, then you can add water.
Adjust the consistency of the Shorba by adding less or more stock or water according to your preferences.