Vegan Makhani Sauce

4.67 from 3 votes

Vegan Makhani Sauce is easy to make in the Instant Pot and makes a great base for a creamy vegan curry! Add your favorite veggies, tofu, chickpeas etc. and serve over rice for a hearty meal!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Author: Manali Singh

Ingredients

1.5 tablespoons oil 22 ml, use oil of choice
1 bay leaf
5-6 large garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 green chili chopped, skip if you like less spicy
1 inch ginger roughly chopped
2 tablespoons broken raw cashews
5 medium tomatoes around 550 grams, roughly chopped
2 tablepoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder for color
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 teaspoons sugar or to taste
1 cup water 8 oz
1/4-1/3 cup coconut cream adjust to taste
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
cilantro to garnish

Instructions

Press the saute button on the instant pot. Once it displays hot, add the oil and then add the bay leaf, garlic, green chili, ginger and broken cashews. Saute for 1 minute.
Then add the chopped tomatoes.
Add the tomato paste, coriander powder, kashmiri red chili powder, garam masala, salt and sugar.
Stir in 1 cup water. If your instant pot has "burn" problem, don't stir the tomato paste with everything else. Just push everything slightly under water with a spatula. If your instant pot doesn't have the "burn issue", give a quick stir.
Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes, with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then do a quick pressure release by manually moving the sealing valve from sealing to venting position. Open the pot and remove the bay leaf.
Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup coconut cream and blend to a smooth sauce using your immersion blender. Or wait for few minutes until the sauce cools down a bit and then use a regular blender.
Press the saute again. Add the cardamom powder and kasuri methi. Stir and let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes until it's all heated through.
Add your cooked veggies/tofu/chickpeas etc. Let simmer for 2 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve vegan makhani sauce with rice or bread of choice!

Notes

1. If you want to freeze this sauce, let the sauce cool completely and then freeze individual portions - 1/4 cup per cube in ice cube trays. Thaw directly in the pan and add veggies of choice when you want to make your meal.

2. The sauce thickens as it cools down because of cashews and coconut cream. Add some water while re-heating.

3. This sauce isn't spicy. If you would like more heat, add some cayenne pepper/red chili powder along with other spices.

Nutrition