Life-Changing 30 Minute Masala Sauce

Okay, guys – here it is!

Our newest life-changing sauce: 30 minute masala sauce. 

Except that first picture isn’t the actual sauce. It’s just the paste, and the paste would be really intense to eat since it’s loaded with onions and garlic and turmeric and cumin and cayenne and garlic and lemon juice and cilantro and basically every possible flavor item in your kitchen and more.

So no, we’re not eating the masala paste. But we ARE going to use the paste to MAKE THE SAUCE, and that’s what this lush, creamy, life changing 30 minute masala sauce is all about. A flavor paste as the base, simmered with pureed tomatoes and coconut milk to stretch it into a lush masala sauce.

Don’t you just want to roll around in it? GAHHHH

Every time we venture into new recipe territory (Indian food, Thai food, Vietnamese food) where I have absolutely zero credibility, such as, for example, ALL MY RECIPES EVER, I feel the need to state what I hope is fairly obvious: that I am not trying to claim authenticity here.

It’s, like, embarrassing to even think about that. The extent of my experience with masala is eating it via takeout alongside massive piles of naan and that Indian-restaurant-quality basmati rice that is magically so much better than the stuff I make at home. And speaking of the basmati rice sorcery: how do they do it? Is it cooked in butter? A special type of broth? Unicorn tears? What must I know?

Keeping my level of experience in mind, to the person who is reading this who knows about REAL MASALA and sees all my glaring masala mistakes and doesn’t get mad about them, bless you, friend! Bless. You.

Our intentions on this blog are good: we are only trying to as much masala into our lives as possible. Amiright?

My goal with making this sauce (other than eating tons and tons of masala forever) was to have something that would land at that perfect intersection between fun food to eat / easy ingredients to buy / ready to eat in 30-ish minutes. I also wanted to put the sauce as its own recipe because sometimes it’s just easier to build meals around sauces, right? You maybe already have some chicken in the fridge, and she already has some broccoli, and that guy is going to try mushrooms and paneer (ummm I’m going to that guy’s house).

It’s just a super flexible masala sauce recipe for normals.

This masala sauce recipe is life-changingly delicious without requiring you to take any special trips to any particular grocery stores, I don’t think, and it is going to be ready in a flash and a half, plus you’ll be gifted with what I would consider to be one of the best possible self-gifts that could ever exist: a whole jar full of that masala paste so you can whip up masala sauce anytime that hangry craving shows up.

(This picture shows the sauce without the tomatoes because I forgot the tomatoes that one time but it was still reeeeally good so I kept the picture. The End.)

PS. The meatballs that are not actually MEATballs recipe is coming soon. part-yay!

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Life-Changing 30 Minute Masala Sauce

Author: Pinch of Yum

Serves: 3-or-so cups masala sauce + 1½ cups remaining nasala paste for future use!

 

Ingredients

For the Masala Paste:

• 2 onions (I used one yellow, one purple)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, crushed
• 3 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• a small pile of of cilantro stems
• a fistful of almonds
• juice of one lemon

For the Masala Sauce:

• 1½ cups tomato puree + ½ cup water or broth
• 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon salt (taste and adjust)

Instructions

1. Masala Paste: Pulse all the ingredients for the Masala Paste in a food processor until smooth.
2. Masala Sauce: Heat a drizzle of oil in a skillet. Add 1/4 cup masala paste to the skillet (not all of it! reserve the rest for future use - yay you!) and stir fry until fragrant. If you're making this with chicken or another protein, this is a good time to add your protein to the pan. Add the tomato sauce and water and simmer until t's a rusty-deep-red color - about 5-10 minutes. Add the coconut milk; simmer for 10 minutes or so until thick and creamy. Longer simmer = thicker and better flavor.

Notes

Store the paste in a jar in the fridge for about a week or store in the freezer for, well, for probably forever.

This sauce is great for making homemade chicken tikka masala, but it also goes with just about anything ever - kind of like a curry. We made this with butternut squash, chicken, and the meatless-meatballs that are pictured. Served over rice... mmmhmmmm. SO GOOD.

3.5.3208

 

Nutrition is for one batch of prepared sauce divided up in 4 servings (which ends up being about 3/4 cup of sauce – what? I like my sauces).

 

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