Tikka Masala Base Sauce

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Kerala backwaters

📍 Where this dish comes from: Kerala · Kerala backwaters
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Tikka Masala Base Sauce, plated and ready to serve

This is the recipe that will transform your cooking — a batch of this deeply developed, velvety base sauce in your freezer means every weeknight Indian dinner is 10 minutes away. Restaurant Indian cooking relies entirely on having exactly this kind of pre-made base sauce, ready to transform any protein into something that tastes like it took all day.

What You’ll Need

Ingredients for Tikka Masala Base Sauce

Tikka Masala Base Sauce

Charred onion, vine tomato, and a cascade of aromatic spices slow-cooked until they collapse and concentrate into a deep mahogany sauce.
Print Recipe
Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 85kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 large onions roughly chopped
  • 6 large tomatoes roughly chopped
  • 1 head garlic peeled
  • 4 cm ginger peeled
  • 4 tbsp ghee
  • 2 tsp red chili powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Heat ghee; cook onions until deep golden, 20 minutes.
  • Add garlic and ginger; cook 5 minutes.
  • Add tomatoes and all spices except garam masala.
  • Cook on medium 20 minutes until very thick.
  • Add garam masala and kasuri methi.
  • Blend until completely smooth.
  • Strain through a sieve for restaurant-smooth texture.
  • Freeze in 250ml portions for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 85kcal | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Fiber: 2g
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Cooking Tikka Masala Base Sauce in the kitchen

Health Benefits

  • Long-cooked onions develop quercetin, an antioxidant compound that increases with Maillard browning.
  • Batch cooking this base once, rather than repeatedly cooking a fresh sauce at high heat each time, may help reduce cumulative exposure to compounds formed during cooking.
  • Dried fenugreek leaves provide diosgenin, a compound that may support hormone balance.
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