Instant Pot Indian Onion Tomato Masala
Jan 08, 2019, Updated Jun 24, 2020
The basic India masala made with onion, tomatoes & bunch of spices. This masala is the base for a number of Indian recipes! Make it in bulk and freeze for quick meals on busy days!
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Basic Indian Onion Tomato Masala aka Bhuna Masala made in the Instant Pot! This versatile masala freezes well and can be used in a number of recipes making it a must have for busy days!
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Happy new year guys! Wish you all a happy and healthy 2019.
Hope you all had a wonderful break. As for me, I really had a nice vacation. First we traveled to the east coast to be with family, also went to New York (which is always so special) and then we also went to New Orleans.
It was my first time in NOLA and I really enjoyed my time there. We came back home couple of days before the 31st and since then we have just been lazing around.
It is so tough to get back to work after holidays. Isn’t it?
I am trying to do little work today so that I can just start to get into the groove but it will take some time. I have a lot of things planned for the blog in 2019 so stay tuned and as always thanks for following along!
For the Instant Pot recipes, I am going to share some super easy meals this year. To start with, I am going to share some easy sauces with you which you can make in advance and freeze.
Once you have these sauces ready to go, you can make a number of Indian dishes in no time, like literally no time.
So, I am starting with the very basic Indian masala – the Indian Onion Tomato Masala.
What is the Indian Onion Tomato Masala
✓ This masala is the most simple and basic masala that is made everyday in Indian households.
✓ It forms the base for a number of recipes- from curries to stews to rice. Once you have this masala ready to go, you can make a lot of recipes in less than 30 minutes!
✓ This masala uses onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and green chilies which are an integral part of Indian cooking.
✓ It also uses the most common Indian spices like coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, garam masala and red chili powder
Some people also call it the bhuna masala. This onion tomato masala is very lightly spiced. I do not add a lot of spices here because that way we can add more while actually making the dish.
I make this masala in bulk and freeze it. This allows to have quick dinner on the table for those busy days. I am relying on this masala so much these days, especially after vacations when you are struggling to get back, this comes in so handy.
How to Freeze & Store The Onion Tomato Masala
Once I make the masala, I puree it in a blender, let it cool down completely and then freeze in large ice cube trays.
When you freeze in individual portions, it’s easier to use in recipes. For example, here I froze 4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup of masala per cube. So this way, it’s so easy for me to take out the individual portion and use in the recipe.
If you freeze it all together, then it will be difficult to use it for different recipes at different times.
I love these OXO Ice Cube Trays, they come with a lid and perfect for holding 1/4 cup masala in each cube.
And how long does this onion tomato masala stay good for? I will say it’s good for 3 months in the freezer. In the refrigerator, around 2 weeks.
How to Use Onion Tomato Masala
Once you have the masala frozen, you can take it out and use in your recipes as required.
I will be sharing some recipes in the coming weeks using the frozen masala to show you guys how quick and easy this is.
Recipes may require 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup or 1 cup of masala and that’s why it’s important to freeze in portions. Makes life much easier!
You can use this masala in pretty much everything- dal, pulao, curries, pasta – so much more! As a baseline, you can use this masala wherever the recipe calls for using onion and tomatoes and basic Indian spices.
Recipes Using this Masala
Aloo Baingan (Potato-Eggplant)
Stay tuned for recipes using the frozen masala and like I said this is just one of the basic Indian masala, I will be sharing more Indian sauces made in the Instant Pot very soon on the blog.
Method
1- Press the saute button on your Instant Pot, then press the adjust button to set saute to “more”. Once it displays hot, add the oil to the pot and then add the diced onion.
2- Saute the onions, stirring often.
3- After around 13 minutes, the onions will turn nice golden brown in color. You want the onions to reach this color.
4- Then add the garlic, ginger and green chilies and cook for 2 minutes.
5- Add the chopped tomatoes, stir and cook for 2 more minutes.
6- Then add the spices – coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, red chili powder and turmeric. Also add salt and mix everything.
7- Add 1-2 tablespoons water to de-glaze the pot, scraping the bottom, there shouldn’t be any burnt bits. Remember to not add much water here as tomatoes will also release lot of water when pressure cooked. 1 or 2 tablespoons should be good and it’s mainly to de-glaze.
8- Close the pot with its lid and press the manual or pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes with natural pressure release.
9- Open the pot once the pin comes down. If the masala looks too watery, press the saute button again and then then use the adjust button to set saute to “more”. Saute (on more) for 3 to 4 minutes to get rid of excess water.
10- I did saute for 3 minutes.
11- Unplug the pot and let the masala cool down a bit and transfer to a blender. You may also use your immersion blender.
12- Grind the masala to a smooth paste using your blender.
Let the onion tomato masala cool completely and then freeze in individual portions. I used these large ice cube trays to freeze the masala which holds around 1/4 cup/4 tablespoons masala in each compartment.
Use the masala as needed for your sabzis, dal, stews etc. You may thaw the masala before using. I mostly use it frozen, directly from the freezer.
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Indian Onion Tomato Masala Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Instant Pot Indian Onion Tomato Masala
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons oil 60 ml, use oil of choice, I used avocado oil
- 4 medium yellow onion 500 grams, diced
- 10 large garlic cloves 22 grams, chopped
- 2 inch ginger 22 grams, chopped
- 2 green chilies chopped
- 5 medium tomatoes 600 grams, chopped
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder or adjust to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons water as needed
Instructions
- Press the saute button on your Instant Pot, then press the adjust button to set saute to "more". Once it displays hot, add the oil to the pot and then add the diced onion.
- Saute the onions, stirring often. After around 13 minutes, the onions will turn nice golden brown in color. You want the onions to reach this color.
- Then add the garlic, ginger and green chilies and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, stir and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Then add the spices - coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, red chili powder and turmeric. Also add salt and mix everything.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons water to de-glaze the pot, scraping the bottom, there shouldn't be any burnt bits. Remember to not add much water here as tomatoes will also release lot of water when pressure cooked. 1 or 2 tablespoons should be good and we only need it to de-glaze the pot.
- Close the pot with its lid and press the manual or pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the pot once the pin comes down. If the masala looks too watery, press the saute button again and then then use the adjust button to set saute to "more". Saute (on more) for 3 to 4 minutes to get rid of excess water. I did saute for 3 minutes.
- Unplug the pot and let the masala cool down a bit and transfer to a blender. You may also use your immersion blender.
Grind the masala to a smooth paste using your blender. - Let the onion tomato masala cool completely and then freeze in individual portions. I used large ice cube trays (see post for reference & link to the ones I use) to freeze the masala which holds around 1/4 cup masala in each compartment.
- Use the masala as needed for your curries, sabzis, dal, stews etc. You may thaw the masala before using. I mostly use it frozen, directly from the freezer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a great recipe, and I used it for the Aloo Matar paneer. However, I haven’t found any other recipes here that reference using this pre-made masala. For instance, I’d like to make the Chana Dal you have here. Can I use this masala for that? If so, how much do I use? Or, could you refer me to some other recipes where this works really well? Thank you! And by the way, every recipe I’ve tried here – paneer, dal, aloo, baingan…are all absolutely fantastic. You are my go-to for Indian recipes. (I’m a beginner at cooking Indian dishes). 🙂
~K
Thanks Kathleen, here are recipes that you can use:
https://www.cookwithmanali.com/instant-pot-aloo-baingan/
https://www.cookwithmanali.com/instant-pot-kale-garlic-dal/
https://www.cookwithmanali.com/instant-pot-black-eyed-pea-curry/
For the chana dal, use 1/2 cup of this masala.
omg……..this is possibly the best sauce……..EVER!
I am glad to know!
I followed the instructions, without making any changes, and made this on the stove. It was very easy to do and turned out very delicious. I used fresh tomatoes from my garden.
I have since frozen the sauce in 1/4 cup portions. I used a silicone ice cube tray.
Thanks for this recipe.
great to know! saves so much time on busy days
Hi – I find the same issue in almost every food blog where I’ve searched for onion tomato masala…none of the recipes actually reference the premade onion tomato masala as an ingredient! So frustrating for us novice cooks.
just use the same quantity of premade onion tomato masala. that’s all. this post is about making homemade onion tomato masala and then using it in several recipes.
What type of green chili’s do you use?
thai green chilies or you can use serrano
Can this be made on the stove?
sure
This is the first time I am visiting your site Manali and this was delicious! Your directions were spot on. To share, I used a 28oz can of crushed no salt fire roasted tomatoes instead of fresh, the instant pot would not come to pressure so I added 1/2 water and it did come to pressure. I was afraid it would be soupy or have less flavor but it wasn’t it is absolutely delicious! I look forward to trying more of your recipes! Thank you!!
glad to know!
Hi Manali, what did you think of this?
In a food blender, add the chili’s, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes. Blend that up and put into the onion after they’ve turned brown. Could save time from the chopping.
you can try
Batch cooking and freezing looks like a great trick. Can canned tomatoes be substituted? Thanks b
you can try, haven’t tried
Hello Manali
Can I ask, do you sieve the sauce to remove the seeds ?
Kind regards
Kaye
No I don’t. I just blend the masala in a blender once cooked so it’s pretty smooth.
Hi Manali – thanks for all the recipes you post, I enjoy reading your blog very much.
I’ve been wanting to make this but wondering if I can follow the same instructions to make ONLY onion masala? I don’t want to make this with tomatoes since I prefer putting imli in certain dishes.
Thanks!
You can, I would just double the onions..and you will also need to add more water since there are not tomatoes to release moisture.
Hi Manali
Thanks for this. Gearing up for next 6 months of Indian cooking. Will be hosting my MIL ??. How many cubes did u get outta this measure
Hi Anjana, it’s mentioned in the recipe, this yields 3 cups of masala. so if each cube is 1/4 cup that will be 12 cubes! You can double the recipe. It will definitely come in handy on busy days!
Hi Manali, love reading your blog and the pictures are so mouth watering…
This is such an awesome time saving idea! Have often thought of doing this… Couple of questions:
1. How many cups does this recipe yield?
2. Can I double the quantity if I am using a 6 quart IP? Also, how much quantity can be made in the 8 quart IP, you think?
Hi Shefali, this recipe yields 3 cups, its mentioned in the recipe card. This recipe is made in the 6 quart. You can double it just don’t double the water. You would still only need 1-2 tablespoons to scrape the bottom. 8 qt is huge, so you can obviously make a huge batch. Not sure about the exact quantity…
Happy new year Angie!