A universal Indian curry paste recipe to add to your precious homemade curry paste collection.
I designed this quick to prepare Indian-style paste as a base to use with various vegetables and proteins. You can get creative in your kitchen and adjust your curries to your liking.
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TL;DR
A curry paste is a kitchen hack that not many people are aware of, and it can help you prepare a flavor-packed Indian meal within minutes.
I hate to buy ready-made Indian pastes because they never taste that great. A homemade version, on the other hand, can be adjusted to your needs and preferences. For example, the chili heat ratio can be tuned down or increased.
I posted a Vegan Tikka Masala Sauce years ago, and it was a gigantic hit on Pinterest.
Over the years, I came up with different flavor variations and this particular recipe here is a universal Indian curry paste that you can use to build a curry that you and your family will love.
You will need a powerful blender to make the smoothest paste, and it will be ready within minutes! Prepare a batch, use it straight away or freeze it for later.
Ingredient Notes
- Onion — Preferably purple or red onions, cut into rough chunks.
- Tomato — Fresh, quartered. You may substitute a fresh tomato with 1–2 Tablespoons Tomato sauce. Taste and adjust quantity.
- Cashews or Almonds — I prefer using cashews because of the texture result and brightness of the curry paste. Cashews can be pricey. Almonds are a more budget-friendly version and are fine too, but I recommend using blanched almonds (aka peeled) because it just tastes better that way (and the curry color will pop). If you are lazy, you can use unpeeled almonds. There is no point in getting ground almonds because you require the food processor/mixer to blend the nuts with the other ingredients.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Spices — You will need turmeric, cayenne or red chili pepper ground, cumin ground, coriander seed ground, colorless asafoetida (secret umami ingredient), and garam masala (the one I use).
- Ginger and Garlic — In India, ginger and garlic paste is a common lazy people flavoring ingredient (I use that but my homemade ginger garlic paste). You can use a ginger garlic paste, or a garlic paste or a ginger paste (you get them separate too) with a 2:1 garlic ginger ratio. That said, fresh garlic can be peeled and thrown into the blender jar and if you want to use fresh ginger (which is always the most flavorful option) grate your ginger first before adding it to the blender jar.
- Fenugreek Leaves — Dried, optional. Adds that special Indian touch to foods. A small pinch is more than enough.
- Water
To Save Time: Use ground spices and ginger garlic paste to make this paste within 5 minutes.
For a Higher Quality Paste: Toast whole spices dry in a skillet to bring out the aroma, cool, and grind whole spices fine with a mortar and pestle, spice blender or coffee bean grinder.
Note: You need a powerful blender or food processor to make this paste super smooth. A hand blender won't do at all.
Process Overview
Step 1
Place onion and tomato into a food processor or blender jar.
Add all the other ingredients, including the cashew or almonds, spices, ginger, garlic, dried fenugreek leaves and water to that.
Step 2
Blend to a smooth paste. The smoother, the better.
Use to make a curry or store and use another time.
📖 Recipe
Universal Indian Curry Paste Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 Medium Tomato
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper Ground or Cayenne
- 1½ Teaspoon Cumin Ground
- 1½ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground
- ⅛ Teaspoon Asafoetida
- 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala
- ¼ Teaspoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves loose
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger and Garlic Paste
- 1½ Cup Cashews or Almonds
- 1 Cup Water
Instructions
- Cut the onion into quarters or chunks and place them into a food processor or blender jar.1 Medium Onion, 1 Medium Tomato
- Add all the other ingredients, the salt, black pepper, turmeric, red chili pepper, cumin, coriander, asafoetida, garam masala, dried fenugreek, ginger garlic, cashews, and water to the food processor or blender jar.1 Teaspoon Salt, ⅛ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, 1 Teaspoon Turmeric, 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper Ground, 1½ Teaspoon Cumin Ground, 1½ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground, ⅛ Teaspoon Asafoetida, 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala, ¼ Teaspoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves, 1 Tablespoon Ginger and Garlic Paste, 1½ Cup Cashews, 1 Cup Water
- Blend the paste to a super smooth paste.
- Use the paste further to prepare a curry or freeze for another day.
Notes
Equipment
- Blender or Food Processor
Nutrition
How to use this Paste
Your smooth paste can be used as a base for all Indian-style curries. You can get creative because the flavor profile is neutral, and it will work with most ingredients.
Easy dump and cook use:
- Heat a deep pan/pot with some oil and keep on a lower heat setting. Stir in the curry paste before the oil gets too hot (or else the paste will jump, so be careful not to burn yourself with hot oil).
- Stir cook the paste until it starts to bubble and then add either cooked vegetables (potatoes), quick to cook raw veggies (peas), vegetable proteins, meats, or seafood.
- Top with some broth or water and simmer down your curry for 20–40 minutes, or until all is cooked to your desired consistency and tastes great.
You can use chicken (to make chicken tikka masala), turkey, meatballs, boiled eggs, tofu (as in my tofu tikka masala), paneer Indian cheese (think Mutter Paneer), Mushroom (for Mushroom tikka masala, shrimp, crab, squids, clams, fish filet pieces, potatoes and cauliflower, or a mixture of vegetables (as in my vegetable korma without coconut).
Storing
Prepare a larger quantity of the paste and batch the paste. When you make the paste, keep 1 cup = 1 serving in mind.
Place into freezer-friendly containers or zip bags and freeze hard. The Indian curry paste can be left frozen in the freezer for months.
To use, thaw the paste first and then use as per the above instructions.
More like this
- Goan Coconut Curry Paste (for Goan shrimp curry or fish curry)
- Goan Recheado Masala Paste (for shrimp, fish and stuffed okra)
- Tandoori Paste (for Chicken Tandoori or oven baked chicken tikka)
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