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Homestyle Indian Curry Sauce (Onion Tomato Masala)

Tanvi Srivastava
Think of this indian curry sauce as mother sauce thatcan be used in countless ways to prepare quick indian meals! Excellent for meal prep since its freezes really well!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 16 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 19 minutes
Cuisine Indian
Servings 5 cup

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup avocado oil or any neutral cooking oil you use at home
  • 450 g onion sliced, I use red onion
  • 40 g garlic cloves minced (we like masala more garlicky than usual, adjust quantity as per liking)
  • 20 g ginger minced
  • 800 g tomatoes chopped , I use a mix of roma tomatoes and tomatoes on the vine

Whole Spices

  • 1 large bayleaf
  • 4 green cardamom
  • 1.5 inch cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 4-6 black peppercorns

Ground Spices (Adjust Spices quantites to liking)

  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • 3 tablespoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder for color, adjust to taste (substitute - paprika powder)
  • 2 teaspoon red chilli powder hot, adjust to taste (substitute - cayenne pepper powder)
  • 2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Place a large cooking pot or pan on medium flame on stove. Pour oil into the pot and let warm up.
  • To the hot oil, add whole spices - bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, cloves and black peppercorns. Skip any spices you don't have at hand or don't prefer. Fry the spices in hot oil taking care not to burn them.
  • Add the chopped onions and cook them on low medium heat until golden brown. Takes about 8-12 minutes.
  • Next, chopped garlic & ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes till you start smelling the aroma. If you like pronounced heat, you can add few green chillies at this stage.
  • Reduce the heat to low and add the spice powders- red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and turmeric powder. Add ? cup water and cook the spices with onion for 2-3 minutes while stirring regularly.
  • Introduce the tomatoes next and sprinkle sugar and salt. At this stage if you want, you can also add 8-10 cashews (I don't). Mix the tomatoes well.
  • Pour 1 cup hot water and cover. Cook this masala on low heat for 6-8 minutes untill the tomatoes soften.
  • Open the oil lid, bump up the heat to medium flame and then start frying the masala. As you go, mash the tomatoes using the back of spoon to break them more. Slowly you will see that the oil starts separating from the mix along the sides of the pot and tiny oily bubbles on top of the masala. This process takes 8-10 minutes. This slow cooking is very important to develop flavors and color of the paste, please do not rush. Allow the masala to reduce till it acquires beautiful reddish to brown color but dont dry out.
  • Remove the pot from stove and allow the masala to cool a little bit. Pick and discard the cinnamom stick and bay leaf.
  • Transfer to a blender jar and pulse a few times to process to a coarse consistency.
  • Portion the onion tomato masala as needed in air tight containers or in freezer safe food containers. I use silicone soup trays for portioning ½ cup. It stays good for up to 5 days refrigerated and 1.5-2 months in the freezer without losing flavor.
  • Once frozen, you can unmold and store the masala cubes in a zip lock bag in the freezer.

Notes

HOW TO USE

  1. Heat The Oil - Add 1-2 tablespoon oil to your cooking pot and warm up a little.
  2. Add Ingredients & Curry Sauce - Add the cut up vegetables, hard boiled eggs, shrimp, chicken etc along with a portion of frozen curry paste. The thumb rule I use is for every 1 lb of ingredients, I use ½ cup of the curry sauce (or ¾ cup if you prefer more masala). Freeze in portions accordingly.
  3. Let Thaw (Skip this step if using refrigerated masala)- Sprinkle salt and pour ¼ cup water over. Reduce the heat to low and then cover the pot for a few minutes (2-3) to let thaw.
  4. Mix & Fry (Bhunai) - Once thawed, mix everything together and then, bhuno (fry) together for 1-2 minutes.
  5. Cover & Cook -
    • For Dry Curry - Cover the pot and cook until the vegetables soften or protein is cooked through.
    • For Saucy Curry - Add ½ to ¾ cup of water (or more for desired consistency), cover, and cook.
  6. Finish with Creamy Additions (Optional) - Towards the finish, if desired add either ½ cup whisked yogurt or ¾ cup coconut milk or ¼ cup heavy cream.
  7. Sprinkle Finishing Spices - Add finishing spices such as ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala powder and dried herbs like ½ teaspoon kasuri methi or dried mint. Simmer for 3-4 minutes to allow for flavors to meld together.

TIPS

  • If you have curry powder at hand, you can use it instead of the spice powders.
  • Make sure that the tomatoes you use aren't too tangy.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!