Every few months I get together with a friend and we have a ‘masala making session’! We spilt the cost of the materials, the work load and then, split the masala. It takes a few hours but once it’s done, cooking is just so easy and so fast. All you have to do is add in the veggies or the meats and cook. Voila! Your dish is ready!
Ingredients:
Onions - 8 lbs
Crushed Tomatoes - 7 (14.5 oz) cans
Oil - 2.5 cups
Ginger & Garlic Paste - 32 oz jar
Salt - 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 2 tbsp
Method:
Cooking:
1. Mince the Onions in a food processor.
2. Heat Oil in 1 large pan or 3-4 smaller pans.
3. Once the Oil is hot, add the Onions and cook for 10-15 minutes.
4. Add in the Ginger & Garlic Paste.
5.Cook till the mixture turns golden brown.
6. Keep stirring frequently.
7. Add in the Crushed Tomatoes and mix well.
8. Cook for another 10-15 minutes and add in the Salt and Turmeric Powder.
9. Mix and cook till the Oil seperates from the Masala.
10. Once the Oil seperates, allow it to cool down to room-temperature.
Storing:
1. Line a cup/mug with a sandwich size ziploc bag.
2. Pour 1 cup of Masala in it.
3. Seal the ziplock except for a little space to put in a straw.
4. Insert the straw and vaccum out the air from the bag and quickly seal.
5. Evenly flatten out the Masala in the ziploc.
6. Put these in a gallon size ziplock and freeze (to avoid freezer burns).
7. Store in the freezer for upto a maximum of 6 months.
Using:
1. When ready to use, take out a a sandwich size bag and gently snap the amount needed.
2. Open the ziploc and take it out.
3. Put the Masala into a pan and allow it to thaw on medium heat.
4. Add in your favorite vegetable or meats and the spices needed.
5. You may or may not need to add more Salt.
6. Replace the balance bag of Masala in the freezer for future use.
Tips:
1. Salt acts as a preservative, so you may need to add more. Please do the taste test.
2. One sandwich ziploc makes approx 3 dishes for 4 people each. But it varies on the dish.
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April 8th, 2008 at 1:10 am
yes, this new recipe is easy to follow and understand. I much prefer your new format where I don’t have to worry about trying to figure what you both say with your accents. sorry, not trying to be mean, but its true.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
If you didn’t want to freeze it, how long would it stay good refrigerated? Does it not lose any flavor frozen versus refrigerated? Thanks!
April 27th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Hi Anuja and Hetal,
I made punjabi masala but it turned out bitter in taste. I think it is because of canned tomatoes. any idea to make it perfect(less bittery taste)? since i made it in large quantitiy, I do not want to waste money and my energy:) Thanks.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Mike:
I would not keep it over a week, max 10 days in the refrigerator.
Regarding the flavor…fresh is always better, but the difference is insignificant and the convenience outweighs everything else. See what works out best for you. I make this big batch and split with a friend and it lasts me about 3-4 months. You can do a smaller batch and freeze less.
G’Luck!
April 30th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Dina:
Did you use a food processor or a blender? We recently learnt the hard way that sometimes when you mince the onions in a blender…the onions turn bitter. We really feel bad…let me know and we’ll get to the bottom of this.
I have been making and freezing this masala for about 10 years now and usually use canned tomatoes (as they have some preservative) and I really don’t think that is the reason.
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:00 am
Actually I had used food processor. btw, I used yellow onion not red onion because we use yellow onion in cooking. does that affect on taste? thanks for replying back.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Hi Hetal and Anuja
I have tried this masala and it came out excellent and I have used this in many recipes too. Now I am going to make a second batch of this again. BTW will this masala last in India(because of the hot weather there)as it would here for 3 or 4 months???
June 4th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Hi Niha,
The masala will last in India as it does here provided that there is no fluctuations in the electricity. If the temperature is kept constant at freezing levels, it should be fine.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
hi anuja and hetal,
This was a great video to help ppl like us. Could you also show us how to make garam masala powder for vegetarian curries .
thanks
June 30th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Hey Hetalbhen,
Which Ginger/Garlic Paste do you use? There are so many out there, which one would you recommend? Or do you make you own Ginger/ Garlic paste at home?
July 1st, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Hi Shital,
The Indian store near my house has Ravi brand but I believe they are all pretty much similar (honestly, I have not tried out all of the brands out there). Many times, I buy the big container of peeled (big time saver) garlic from Costco and grind it myself and then use fresh ginger. It is definitely more time consuming but I figure that I am saving so much time with this masala that it’s worth it :). Love to the kids!
Hetal
August 1st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
hi,
thank you ladies so much u have been an inspiration, i do have a question though, how long does the cooking take, cos i want to be sure as to when you know the oil separates, is it when you see it floating, also can yellow onions be used instead of red onions, thanks again?
August 6th, 2008 at 6:18 am
hi thanks for the method ! can u please post a recipe for making 4 packets of this masala , so that beginners like me can dare to try this. it is so frightening to see that full pan of masala. if this small amount works well , we can follow the original recipe like u experts do. please sistas , help with the recipe :))
November 16th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Thanks for this recipe. I am going to try this.
I first want to try this in a smaller batch. So can you please let me know what the proportion of onion and tomato should be? I cant seem to calculate from the bulk measurement.
Thanks!
Pavithra
November 27th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
After a long time I have understood the secret behind north indian taste!!! Like mentioned above by others i’d like to start off with a very small batch like say 1 packet. It would be very helpful if yu guys can tell us the proportions atleast for 1 pack so that we can multiply it for the remaining.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks
Sanchitha
December 18th, 2008 at 6:15 am
If I wanted to use tomato paste instead of crushed tomatoes, what proportion of onions to tomato paste would you suggest I use ?
Thanks,
-gita