Tomato Onion Masala Sauce

5 from 17 votes

Use this flavorful tomato onion masala sauce to make your favorite Indian restaurant-style dishes in minutes. I've included instructions for Instant Pot, pressure cooker and stove-top cooking.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings (approximately)

Calories: 107kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Instant Pot or pressure cooker or saucepan
Immersion blender or blender, optional

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

US Customary - Metric

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

Pressure cooker: For a pressure cooker that goes on a stovetop, follow steps 1 and 2, then let the tomatoes, onions and other spices cook for six "whistles" or for 10 minutes after maximum pressure has been reached (set heat to medium-low at this point).

Stovetop: If using a saucepan, follow steps 1 and 2, then cover and cook over medium-low, stirring every 10 minutes or so, for 30-45 minutes until the sauce has darkened and is very thick.

Nutrition