What is Indian Curry Sauce aka Bhuna Masala?
“Bhuna” literally translates to “Roast”.The onions and tomatoes are roasted together along with a few choice spices to create a base for all Indian sauces.Mastering this is mastering Indian Cuisine. “Bhuna” literally translates to “Roast” This masala is akin to soffritto used in Spanish,italian,portughese and Latin American cooking- the base used for all sauces.Similarly this Indian Bhuna Masala is the base to all curries. This Bhuna Masala recipe is my goto way of making the base sauce but it’s not the only way.You can change the texture and taste by altering the size and cut of the onions and tomatoes.If you add an onion paste instead of the chopped onion - the masala will be very different from this.Similarly if you puree everything and dump in the Kadhai, it will be a very different masala.
How to make Indian Curry Sauce
There are two ways of making it.Depending on your patience.
Stove Top Curry Sauce
This method is slow but the result is absolutely gorgeous, jammy Curry Sauce with a great depth of flavour. A bhuna Masala like all sauce bases needs love and care.You cannot rush it.You should not rush it.It needs a patient and a loving hand.The slower you cook this, the better the results. The proof of a good bhuna masala though lies in it’s jammy consistency and concentrated flavour - The onions should be medium brown- by that I mean some of the onions should have brown caramelisation but not be burnt! It’s a delicate balance really!
Instant Pot Indian Curry Sauce
This is the shortcut method.It’s for all all busy moms who can’t spend as that much time in the kitchen.It’s a hybrid method. Step 1: Browning the OnionsStep 2: Pressure Cooking with tomatoes. This will yield a slightly more runny sauce but great neverthless. The advantage of this step is that you can make a lot more sauce and freeze it!
How to use Indian Curry Sauce
With this ready in my fridge, I can make curries on the fly! In fact, the lazy bum in me just adds a couple eggs to it to make a very fast Egg Bhurji without compromising on the flavour.The real clincher here though is - that it freezes really well.So just spoon it into a zip lock bag, write the date, pop it in the freezer and forget all your curry woes!! I like mine to have a little bit of texture especially in dishes like Rajma, channa and my mom’s Paneer Capsicum The bhuna masala you see in the picture is what I used to make Dal Tadka,Rajma Masala, my mothers paneer capsicum and my chicken curries. At one point I used to eat this along with Maggi and Chips.Lol.
