Want to make any curries,let it be a simple potato curry to chole masala or chicken curry, you have to start from the basic onion and tomato masala. That is the main process which takes a considerable amount of time..
Starting from…..
chopping onions,tomatoes,
grinding ginger garlic paste,
and sweating them
and cooking till it browns
and the oil separation process…HUH lots of work right..
Not anymore friends…Find yourself some time and make this yummy basic masala in bulk..If you have this in freezer then making a curry is a breeze..Now I am stocking this a lot that anything else..And I am feeling happy now..Because this is making my morning hours so easy. Even preparing dinner is the happiest thing to think about after a long day of tiring work.. I hope you will be happy like me if you do this…And ask me if you have any doubts..
Ingrediants:
Onion - 1 kg cut into quarters
Tomato- 1 kg cut into quarters
Ginger Garlic Paste - 100 gms
Turmeric Powder / Manjal podi - 1 tblspn
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 cup
Method:
Take a food processor and mince onions and tomatoes separately.
Take a large non stick pot and heat oil in it.
Add in minced onions and saute them for 15 mins in that oil till they turn light golden.
Now add in salt, turmeric and ginger garlic paste and saute them for 2 mins.
Add in the tomatoes and mix well.
Cover the pot with a lid and let them cook.
Cook this for 30 mins till oil separates from the mixture.
Now allow this to cool down.
Take small size ziploc bags and spoon a cup of masala in each bag.
Remove the air from the bag and flatten it out.
Once you are done with everything. Stack the bags and freeze them.
Once they are frozen you are break as much masala as you need and cook.
Important Points to Remember:
1.Cook till oil separates from the mixture. This shows you that the masala is cooked completely.
2.Use small size ziploc bags. This will prevent you from taking the whole lot out.
3.This masala can be used to make all curries from chole masala to chicken curry.
4.Allow the mixture to cool down before freezing, this will increase the shelf life.
5.This masala can be stored upto 6 months in freezer.
6.Never refreeze the defrosted masala.
Pictorial:
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| Lets start making our basic masala |
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| Cut up some onions and tomatoes..Big Chunks will do... |
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| If you have a food processor, then the work is a breeze |
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| onions chopped in seconds |
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| tomatoes too |
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| Now take a your biggest pot..Non stick works best |
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| add a good amount of oil |
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| add your onions |
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| and saute for few minutes till they turn light golden |
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| add in salt and turmeric |
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| add a good amount of ginger garlic paste |
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| and saute for few more minutes |
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| add in tomatoes |
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| and mix well |
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| cover and cook |
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| till oil separates on top |
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| allow the mixture to cool down |
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| take some ziploc bags |
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| add a cup of masala in each baggie |
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| flatten it out |
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| stack em... |
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| and freeze...You can use this in your recipes.. |
Divya Pramil
That's a very brilliant idea 🙂 Makes cooking easier!!
~Today's Recipe~Karuvadu Kulambu / Dry Fish Gravy
You Too Can Cook Indian Food Recipes
Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj
really helpful in peak morning hrs...
VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA
Foodomania
This is really very helpful!!!!
-
Kavi
Chitra
Very useful post..Will try.
Anonymous
Awesome!
Shailaja Reddy
This masala is very useful in every kitchen... nice...
Balakrishna Saraswathy
Very innovative idea to prepare masala in bulk...
RAKS KITCHEN
should be very useful aarthi, great job!
Pragyan
Good post..I usually do this when cooking for guestsparties. Bulk cooking made easy - this is the only trick apart from cutting veggies and storing them in ziplocs as well. I keep some frozen uncooked masala for our quick use as well. What a time saver!
Sarah
Hi Aarthi,
Can you please tell me how to use the frozen masala in a curry??
How to defrost and use? When do we use it? (after tempering?)?
Maanit Gupta
Whrre to store this masala in freezer .... Whats the life of this masala.... We sont need to add any tomotoes if using this ... Oe this has to be used as Sabzi MasLa
Aarthi
@Maanit GuptaYou can store it in a box, this will last for 2 to 3 months. No need to add tomatoes, you can use this for any curries or subzis
Kyproulla
`Another good recipe/method from you. I have already made and stored in ice cube trays in freezer. Just pop out a cube or two and off you
go !!! Thanks for sharing with us. Kyp.
Anonymous
Thank you mam for sharing this. I would like to know the exact amount of ginger and garlic for the recipe..
Aarthi
@AnonymousIt is around 3/4 cup
Anonymous
@Aarthi
Hello Aarthi,
Please let me know at what stage of cooking do I put this frozen masala? is it before cooking vegetables or after cooking vegetables?
Aarthi
@Anonymousheat little oil and add the frozen masala and give a good mix, then add veggies or meat and cook.
Anonymous
Hello! I was thinking to make this but I have a question: How much frozen masala do you use once? 🙂 Thank you very much!
Aarthi
@Anonymousit depends on the amount of curry u makes..Normall 1 cup is used to serve for 3 to 4 people
Nazia I
I wonder if I could make this in a slow cooker?
Aarthi
@Nazia Iyes u can
Unknown
Hi there thank you for your recipe, once defrosted could you add more spices while cooking?
koyas miah
Hi there. Could you add more spices once masala has defrosted?
koyas miah
Can you add more spices after defrosting?