What's the optimum — or, at least, the most widely used — tomato to onion ratio for making the tomato masala (sauce)? Masala is used as the base for a number of north Indian dishes. Onions are fried in oil and then tomatoes and spices are added and cooked down until the oil separates out.
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I am not intimately familiar with the recipe but according to the recipes I have researched the ratio seems to run the gamut from 2-1 tomatoes to onions all the way to 1-1 tomatoes to onions. I would recommend starting at the 2-1 ration and adjusting according to taste. Here are the recipes I reviewed: http://www.food.com/recipe/onion-tomato-masala-194144 http://www.spiderkerala.com/kerala/recipes/ViewRecipe.aspx?RecipeId=162 http://nsushma.blogspot.com/2009/09/tomato-masala.html I hope that helps! Ideally someone with more experience with this dish can eventually write a more comprehensive answer. |
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I have a coworker from North India whose wife is a fantastic cook. I asked him and he asked her. Her response was basically "it depends". Her recipes are commonly 1:1 ratios. I commented that this was a lot of onion and my coworker said that's fine because he's the one that chops it. Some recipes have even more onion and the onion is pureed. Others have a little more tomato. She recommended starting with a 1:1 ratio by volume unless there is a specific type of masala recipe that requires a different ratio. |
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The ratio basically depends upon ones taste and the dish in particular. 2:1 ratio is opted in cases where we would like to have a sweet taste of the tomato, in other cases we go for 1:1. Often for spicy dishes 2:1 is preferred. I would recommend to start from 1:1, and bring down the ratio depending upon whether you love the taste of tomato. I basically stick to 2:1, as I am not a tomato fan.. B-) |
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