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Indian Onion Masala Recipes

How to Use Onion Masala in Indian Recipes

Let’s Talk About This Magical Sauce: Indian Onion Masala

Welcome to the Indian Onion Masala series here on My Heart Beets! I am on a mission to help you simplify Indian cooking, and having onion masala on hand is basically essential for those who want to enjoy fresh Indian food regularly, including busy weeknights.

First, read all about how to make my onion masala. Then make the recipes below using the masala!

Goals for this Series:

  • To increase confidence in the kitchen – especially for those who aren’t as comfortable with Indian cuisine.
  • To prove that it is possible to easily make healthy Indian recipes every day.
  • To get you cooking more Indian meals!

After you make the recipes in this series, you should feel confident knowing how to replace onion/tomatoes in other recipes!

Indian Onion Masala

Start with these two posts about Indian Onion Masala:

Indian Onion Masala

Recipes that Call for Indian Onion Masala:

Veggies

Dal (Lentil Recipes) & Beans

Paneer

Chicken & Eggs

Meat

Seafood

Bookmark this page – I will continue to update it as I add more recipes that call for onion masala!

How To Use this Masala in Other Recipes?

This will require some experimentation, but as you continue to make dishes, you’ll figure out how much to use. And chances are the dish will always turn out well even if it’s not perfect. I haven’t tested every recipe on my blog to determine the exact quantity of onion masala, but I’ll add them to this list as I test recipes and I’ll also add notes to the recipe itself.

When you use onion masala, you’ll want to use it in place of onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes in a recipe. You may also need to adjust spices accordingly.

  • Keema: use ½ cup of masala
  • Goat Curry: use 1 cup of masala
  • Rajma: use 1 cup of masala
  • Butter Chicken: I’ve tested this with 1 cup and 1 ½ cups and while it makes the dish super easy to make (you just dump and cook everything for 10 minutes then QR), I have found that it is not as good as my original recipe.

Other Simple Ways to Use Indian Onion Masala:

You can use this masala to give extra oomph (flavor) to pretty much anything you make.

For example: add some masala when making a stir-fry; use it as an Indian tomato sauce on pizza (or add Italian herbs to it!); mix it with pasta; spread it on a sandwich; stir it into your scrambled eggs, etc.

Tell me how you use this masala sauce 🙂

Reader Interactions

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Comments

  1. Renu Tiwary says

    I have made some of your recipes and I like their ease and everyday flavours. Today I made onion masala and made aloo matar and zucchini with it.
    Very nice
    Thanks a lot
    Look forward to more shortcuts like this.
    Makes COVID nonstop cooking easier. 🙂

    Reply

  2. Louise says

    Hello Ashley, thank you for your great blog. I made your onion masala this evening after planning to for ages. No burn notice! I’m in France and obviously it’s not tomato season so I used 2 tins of chopped tomatoes. It smells nice and looks good, but when I tasted it just after blending it seems very tomato-ey and not very spicy at all. I’m worried the dishes I use it in will turn out bland. Have I done something wrong?!

    Reply

    • Ashley - My Heart Beets says

      Hi Louise, the masala shouldn’t be spicy but it should be flavorful. Does it taste bland to you? If so, it could be the spices you’re using – are they old spices? Or did you buy them in bulk? For the best flavor, you can grind whole spices yourself or, if you buy pre-ground then buy in smaller amounts and from a shop that you know has good turnover. Please let me know how it turns out!

      Reply

  3. Mary says

    Can we pop these out of the freezer and straight into the pot at the beginning of our recipes? Or do these need to be thawed/defrosted differently first?

    Reply

  5. Jennifer says

    I thought others might want to know about this variation: I can’t tolerate onion and garlic — I follow the FODMAP diet. But I make this with leeks (just the green part) and garlic oil, and it comes out really nicely. I don’t spend as much time cooking the leeks, since they don’t caramelize the same way, but since they’re darker the end result looks the same.

    Reply

    • My Heart Beets says

      Hi Jennifer, this is great to know – thank you so much for sharing! It’ll definitely help other readers – I get questions about replacing onion and garlic all the time.

      Reply

  6. Bree says

    I absolutely love the utility of onion masala and it has made vegetarian life a breeze! I hardly have to put any thought into meals which used to give me crazy anxiety. Thank you! After following your recipes for so long I felt it appropriate to finally comment. My favourite onion masala recipes so far: Chana dal and paneer makhani!
    Thanks again 🙂

    Reply

    • My Heart Beets says

      Bree, I’m so glad you like the onion masala! I’ll definitely keep coming up with more easy veg recipes that call for it 🙂 Also, I’m really glad you left a comment – this was really nice to read so thank you 🙂

      Reply

  7. Vps says

    Thank you! I made your Aloo Baingan recipe today and it was a hit!!! Cant want to use the onion masala again!!! 😊

    Reply

  10. Mokhsha says

    If I defrost the masala to add to a recipe (eg dahl), can I go onto to freeze any leftovers of the dahl?

    Reply

  11. Roomina says

    Hi Ashley,
    I’m not sure how I can thank you for this, words fail to Express my gratitude. It took me literally 5 minutes to make dinner tonight. I usually prep chicken when I buy it so I always have stir fried chicken (stir fried with garlic and ginger only) in the freezer. All I had to do was add the masala to the chicken, add some salt and garam masala and heat it for 5 minutes on medium-low and that was it. Delicious chicken curry in 5 minutes. I’m so thankful to you and to a friend who introduced you to me.

    Reply

  12. Sonia says

    Hey Ashely, can same method be used to make just onion masala ( no ginger, garlic, tomato). I prefer to add those fresh when making my curry.

    Reply

    • Henna Shah says

      Hi Ashley,

      I recently bought your book. I was hoping to have easy access to the onion masala recipe series when I cook instead of using my phone, but I noticed those weren’t in the book. Do you have another book with these recipes?

      Reply

      • My Heart Beets says

        Hi Henna, I came up with the onion masala series after publishing the book, but I’ve actually been thinking about putting a new one together for a while now. The pandemic put this idea on hold – hopefully I can get something together next year, with even more recipes. I appreciate the feedback!

        Reply

  14. JT says

    Made my 2nd batch last night. Got the burn error again this time too. 1st time i used a thick tomato sauce so figured not liquid enough.

    This time used 1 Kg onion (2.2 lbs) and 2 x 19 oz cans of diced tomato’s with the juice. Got burn error just before it got to pressure. Took lid off and did a quick scrap. Put lid back on and it got to pressure right away and all was well.

    One note, it took about 1 hour to get onions browned close to the colour in the video, on saute high, I might have been stirring to much, but I wanted to keep it from sticking on the bottom to avoid the burn error later.

    Planning some chicken vindaloo in the next few days, my new favourite as I love the vinegar it. Going to add a bit more Cayenne this time to give it a little more fire.

    Many thanks for your efforts and keep the recipes coming.

    Reply

  15. Seema Patel says

    My friend and I both got a burn message in the instant pot. What are we doing wrong! We have used the pot many times and have used your recipe but for some reason this one in particular creates the burn advisory note!

    Reply

  16. Sheeba says

    Ashley! Thank you so much for all your hard work with your recipes! I’ll be honest, I didn’t use my instant pot regularly until I found your website and book, so thank you so much! I also ended up getting a burn message with the onion masala unfortunately, but was able to salvage it with a pot on the stove (maybe it is a newer instant pot issue). I’m excited to try out these onion masala recipes. Hope you’re staying safe 🙂

    Reply

    • My Heart Beets says

      Hi Sheeba, I’m so glad you found my blog and are enjoying my recipes! Sorry to hear about the burn sign – I’ve heard that about newer instant pots too. I need to figure out a solution because unfortunately, I’m hearing this more often lately. Glad you were able to salvage it! Let me know what you think of any onion masala recipes you try 🙂 Hope you are staying safe as well.

      Reply

  18. Rach says

    I just remembered I have a whole extra bag full of frozen onion masala blocks to get me through pandemic lockdown, and I have never been more glad I followed a recipe.

    Reply

    • My Heart Beets says

      Rach, hope you’re staying safe and healthy during this lockdown. Glad you’ve got some onion masala handy – hope you love all the recipes you make with it 🙂

      Reply

  19. Jen says

    Omg,I love this! It really cuts down on the time to make recipes. I made the onion masala and then used in your palak paneer recipe (my favorite food ever) and it really was so much easier to have the onion masala on hand. I love Indian food but the prep has always been a deterrent some nights. Next up is the butter paneer! Please give us more recipes with this amazing awesome magical sauce! 🙂

    Reply

  20. Andie Early says

    I used ½C garlic/ginger paste + 1/4tsp garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and ginger. It turned out yummy & usable! So easy & a definite time saver. I don’t know how the taste compares to using fresh tomatos, garlic & ginger, but I will definitely keep my freezer well stocked with this! I have Spinocerebellar Ataxia, so any fine-motor-control required task is dicey at best. I am so happy to have found this yummy & useful masala.

    Reply

    • My Heart Beets says

      Andie, I’m glad that you like this masala! Canned tomatoes work just as well – and are actually sometimes better especially when ripe tomatoes are not in season. Let me know what you think of the recipes you try 🙂

      Reply

    • Meraj says

      Thank you for translating ginger + garlic into garlic/ginger paste + garlic. I wanted to use galic/ginger paste but was not sure how it translates from the original. I came to the blog to ask that very question.

      By the way, do you mean 1/2 cup by 1/2C? Sorry, I am a guy who can burn water. Today, was the first time I tried to make anything besides fried potatoes.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  21. Sonal says

    Hi there

    I’ve tried the onion masala at least 5-6 times. Each time it has burnt and each of those 5-6 times I was careful and took all the precautions. I even retried it 4-5 tunes on each attempt. Is there a stovetop method?

    Reply

    • My Heart Beets says

      Sonal, oh man, I’m so sorry to hear that! I wonder why this is happening – does this happen often with your model or just when making this masala? Was there anything stuck to the bottom prior to pressure cooking? Also, do you mind sharing what model you’re using? As for a stovetop method, you can certainly make it on the stovetop it’s just that it takes longer to really cook down the tomatoes.

      Reply

      • Chris says

        Just for more data: I’ve made the masala twice in a 6qt ultra and I also got the burn message. I let it cycle until it stopped with the large lit burn screen. It had some sticking and thus some very dark flecks but actually didn’t taste too bad. I was however surprised since so many people seem to do it without trouble.

        Reply

        • Jen says

          I am starting to wonder if there is a problem with the newer Instant Pots running too hot?. I was getting a lot of burn errors and was following recipes perfectly. I have also found the saute function runs too hot – things should not boil! I found in saute mode, I often have to switch to warm mode for a bit to get it all to cook as desired. As for burn message, once I get it I scrape the bottom really well and then start the cycle over. Sounds crazy, but so far all my recipes have been fine. Anyway, it is frustrating!

          Reply

          • Pete says

            I used the Instapot, only ONCE for sauteing something. If anything calls for sauteing I do it on the stove. Less clean up, I think. I did get the burn message once.
            But since I do the saute on the stove. I’ve never had the burn message.
            Ensure the bottom of your stainless steel pot is smooth on the inside and there are no ridges. I do not think the new instapots are any hotter than the older ones.
            Tell me if it works.

            Reply

            • Gayatri says

              Works for me! I’ve made this everytime without a burn error. I do get burn errors for other things. From this experience there’s 2 things I can point towards:

              1) add more water
              2) press the sauté button and reduce the heat to “less” from the get go. If it starts out too hot “more” or “normal” it stays too hot. I think the pot takes a long time for the heating element to cool.

              So start with “less” sauté I would recommend, and add more water (which can be reduced later again with the sauté function – I know that increases the time but it isnt so bad in the bigger scheme of things 🙂 )

              Reply

      • Gayatri says

        Ashley, ive been following your blog since I got my instant pot a few months ago. I want to say, that I am so incredibly grateful to you and your blog.

        Growing up in India, I loved my homecooked meals, but having lived outside for so many years since a young college student, I was SO scared of complicated Indian cooking, that I would only ever get to eat desi home-cooked meals when I visited my parents in india or aunts/uncles houses near where I lived in the UK and the US.

        Now! Thanks to you, I can replicate our family’s recipes (small tweaks to yours) .. and enjoy my home cooking and childhood food ♥️

        But the star is your onion masala, also your way of explaining the steps, and the compilation of onion masala recipes has helped me develop confidence in my desi cooking skills!! I made my parents in india also buy an instant pot because of Covid we had to sadly say goodbye to the aunty (for her and their safety) who cooked scrumptious meals for us for so many years. I still have quite a ways to go but the instant pot recipes have made my heart fuller, waist smaller, and skills better 🙂

        Can’t thank you enough 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

        Reply

        • My Heart Beets says

          Hi Gayatri, this is so nice to hear, thank you for letting me know how much you’re enjoying my recipes and how they’ve helped you – your comment really warmed my heart! 🙂

          Reply
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