It's so easy to make your favorite Indian restaurant-style dishes in minutes with this meal-prep friendly tomato onion masala sauce. Store it in a jar and use multiple times. I've included instructions for Instant Pot, pressure cooker and stove-top cooking.
Table of Contents
Enjoy delicious Indian food on weeknights with this simple curry sauce
Many Indian curries start out with tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic cooked with a few spices. This is easy enough but it takes time to chop the ingredients and sauté them until they are perfectly cooked.
With this tomato onion sauce you can save that precious time on a busy weeknight. Make it once, store it in the fridge, and make your favorite Indian dishes like tofu palak paneer, bhindi masala, saag aloo and instant chana masala in just 10-15 minutes.
Here's why I always have a couple of jars of this sauce in my fridge:
- It provides that rich flavor base that makes Indian food taste so, so good.
- The sauce is beginner-friendly but it makes cooking complex Indian dishes so much easier - and quicker.
- Dishes made with this sauce taste amazing but not like each other. This means you could use the sauce to make two or three different dishes at the same meal, like 10-minute dal or tofu paneer kali mirch or methi malai tofu paneer, and no one will know!
- You need just 30 minutes to make the sauce in a pressure cooker or saucepan or Instant Pot. I prefer the Instant Pot for convenience but the IP does sometimes act up because of the tomatoes and you might see a "burn" message. The sauce is usually cooked by that time so you can just turn off the IP and wait for the pressure to release.
In a past version of this recipe I didn't blend the tomato onion sauce after cooking it. This time I used a stick blender for a more even consistency. You can use a blender, or skip blending altogether.
One tip on chopping the onions. If you're anything like me, you'll likely be crying your way through it. To prevent this, halve the onions, put them in a bowl, and leave them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before chopping. This reduces any tearing to a minimum.
Recipe card
Tomato Onion Masala Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 pounds red onions (about seven or eight medium onions, diced)
- ¼ cup garlic
- ¼ cup ginger (roughly chopped)
- 2 pounds tomatoes (about eight tomatoes, diced)
- ¼ cup ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons paprika (optional but adds nice color)
- 2 teaspoons cayenne
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
Instructions
- Add oil to the Instant Pot liner and set to the sauté function. Add the onions, ginger and garlic and sauté for a few minutes until the onions start to soften.
- Add the remaining ingredients - tomatoes, ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika, cayenne and turmeric. Give it all a good stir.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set to pressure cook for 10 minutes. You don't need to add any water-- the moisture in the tomatoes will be enough.
- After the sauce has cooked, you can blend it or use a stick blender to make it smooth. This is optional. The tomatoes and onions are soft enough that they will just melt into any recipe you add this sauce to.
Notes
Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
Recipe FAQs
This can vary because some recipes will need half a cup or a full cup, a few might need more. You should be able to make six to eight dishes with this quantity of tomato onion sauce.
If you already have ginger garlic paste, add ½ cup to the tomato onion sauce recipe instead of the ginger and garlic. I recommend using a homemade paste because store bought pastes can have additives that can alter the taste of the sauce.
Store the sauce up to two weeks in the fridge and up to four months in the freezer. If you know how to can food safely, you can store it, canned, for up to a year.
You can use this curry base for nearly any Indian dish that begins with sautéing tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic.
Recipes using tomato onion masala sauce
More flavorful sauce recipes
First published April 17, 2019. Updated and republished on June 21, 2025.
Paul says
Hi Vaishali, made the tomato, onion masala sauce. It tastes great thank you. Just wondered although I’m, not vegan and do cook Indian meat dishes occasionally, which may ask for a 14oz can of chopped tomatoes, would you recommend using the same amount of the sauce as a substitute for the can ? Thanks.
Vaishali says
Yes, the same, so happy you made the sauce!
Darren Bradshaw says
Hi I'm about to make this curry but 150g of ginger seems alot and going to use crushed ginger any help thanks
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Darren, this is not for just one recipe - that ginger will get divided over several recipes you can make with this tomato masala sauce. But if you still prefer less ginger, reduce the quantity.
Deena Kolb says
I just made half of this recipe and it only made a little over 3 1/2 cups. I used 3/4 a pound of tomatoes and 3/4 lb of onions so I'm not sure how you got enough for eight uses by making the whole recipe. Did I do something wrong?
Vaishali says
You only need 1/2 to 1 cup of the sauce for each recipe, depending on what you are making.
Teresa says
Thank you for your recipe. In the blog portion, you mention turmeric. I do not see that in the ingredients. Was this a mistake or should I be adding that? Thanks!
Vaishali says
Hi Teresa, it's 1 tsp turmeric--thanks for pointing out the omission!
james barclay says
Can you substitute canned tomatoes?
Vaishali says
Yes, that’s fine!
Sarah says
This sounds so delicious & convenient! One amazing trick when cutting onions is to cut them near the kitchen vent/fan on high. It will suck away all the onion fumes. My eyes would water horribly before I learned this trick from my dad (who thought of it probably the first time he ever cut onions, LOL!).
Debi says
Recipe looks delish, definitely will try it to speed up prep time. Do you think this could be pressure canned like spaghetti sauce?
Kathrine says
HI Vaishali
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. For years I have been trying to master Indian food but was always disappointed with the results until now. This chana masala is so full of flavour, and easy to prepare. I especially like that the ingredient list is short but it produces such intense flavour. May I ask what kind of paprika you use for the recipe?. I have hot Hungarian paprika, sweet Spanish paprika and smoked paprika. Would you suggest any of these or is there an Indian inspired paprika that I should use?
Vaishali says
Hi Kathrine, of those three I would go with the Spanish paprika for the closest results, unless you want something really spicy. The smoked paprika would add too strong a flavor. I usually just buy the jar labeled "Paprika" and nothing more. 🙂 If you want an Indian-style paprika, you could go with Kashmiri chili powder, sold at Indian stores and online, which is mild and is supposed to add good color, although I've found that many of the brands sold here in the U.S. don't actually seem to produce that wonderful color.
K A Jagannathan says
Good recipe. Why salt is missing from your recipe?
Vaishali says
You can add the salt when you are using it in a recipe.
Mary G says
What is the best way to combine this sauce with chicken? Should I just sautee it all together?
Kathy Michaels says
I make an East Indian pizza. I use cubed tandori chicken, the onion tomato sauce and Naan bread. My husband loved it.
Vaishali says
Such a terrific idea!
Paul says
Can this be made with tomato puree in a pinch?
Vaishali says
Absolutely!
Vanessa says
If I wanted to add salt to the sauce, how much should I add?
Vaishali says
I'd add about a teaspoon to the entire recipe, and adjust with more salt as needed for each recipe.
Lisa says
I just made this using the last of my garden tomatoes and was really looking forward to trying it, but I find it quite bitter. Is the amount of ground coriander (1/4 cup) correct? I looked at your recipe for best chana masala, and it seems there would be far less coriander. Thanks.
Vaishali says
The masala sauce is meant to last you through multiple recipes, that's why you use more coriander. In any case coriander won't make the sauce bitter. Some tomatoes can have a bitter flavor, so that might be the culprit.
Supriya Kutty says
This seems so tasty and yummy and I think this will blend with all recipes and this will also be easy to prepare and would taste good as well, my mother is going to love this for sure, as she is big-time fan of tomato and onion I am Sure she will love, will also share it with my friends as well.
Barbara says
Can this be frozen :o)
Vaishali says
Yea absolutely! In an airtight jar or bag, and thaw before adding to recipe.
stephanie says
could I use tinned plum tomatoes instead of fresh?
Vaishali says
Yes, make sure you use the juice too!
Annie says
Hi
When you say a bulb of garlic you mean the entire head of garlic and not just a clove?(sorry if this is a silly question, I don’t cook much). Thanks!
Vaishali says
Yes, a whole head of garlic! Not a silly question at all -- I'll clarify in the instructions as well. 🙂
Nancy says
Hi, What are red onions? I've heard of purple onions but not red ones! thanks!
Vaishali says
They're one and the same, but red onions is more commonly used.
Cindy says
Would coconut milk or yougurt be good addition after making my sauce, (I plan to use some paste & then thin it with a lil water, 1/4-1/2 cup maybe?) Making it with pork & lil globe eggplants.
Vaishali says
Yes, you can add coconut milk or yogurt but don't add it to the sauce--add it at the end of the recipe you made with the sauce.
Maxime Valois says
Hello, I was wondering, do you keep the chick peas water for this recipe? I made it, it was very tasty, but I had to put some coco milk cause I didn't put the chick peas water in the recipe.
Thanks.
Max
Vaishali says
No you shouldn't put any chickpea cooking water in the basic sauce. Nor should you add coconut milk. Those variations can be made when you are actually cooking a recipe using the sauce. Like you can add the cooking water from chickpeas when you make Chana masala using this sauce.
Lallie Pillay says
Dear Vaishali
Thank you for sharing your yummy recipes
Easy to follow n beautiful use of spices
Sarah says
I do like the look of this and I’d like to try it. I am in the uk and our local shops won’t have the paste, but I do always have fresh garlic and ginger, what quantity do you think I would need instead? Thank you, Sarah
Vaishali says
Approximately a 2-inch piece of ginger and a bulb of garlic should be enough!
Kathy says
Most of the large UK supermarkets carry the paste in the World Food aisle now - either KTC or TRS brand.
Vaishali says
Vine tomatoes are the most suitable!
Aracelis says
What are the best tomatoes for this receipe?
Lizzie says
Could I add cashews to this recipe to include cashew paste in the sauce? If so, how many cashews and would I need to soak them in water first? After cooking am planning to blend it all to make a smooth sauce. Thanks!