Masala pasta recipe with ingredients to suit Indian taste buds and to satisfy the desi cravings with perfect blend of spices.
Great for dinner fix as well as quick lunch for one. Hungry kids back from school? Portion this out for them for a quick treat!
I also have a fortified version of the same which is also an Indian style pasta. Check out my another simple Instant pot version of the same.
What is Masala Pasta?
Masala pasta is a dish that combines the flavors of Indian spices and herbs with traditional Italian pasta.
It typically consists of pasta (any shape such as spaghetti or penne) cooked with a sauce made from a blend of Indian spices, often including cumin, coriander, turmeric, and ginger, as well as vegetables such as bell peppers and onions.
The pasta is often finished with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro or other herbs like kasuri methi. It is a fusion dish that brings together the best of both worlds. It is popular in India, and also in other countries.
In this recipe, I have shared how I make Indian style masala pasta by using all Indian spices to make it 'Indian'.
This recipe is naturally vegan and you can also easily make it gluten free also by using any gluten free friendly pasta.
💖 Why I love this
- Spicy to suit our taste buds
- Can adapt and use your favorite masala like pav bhaji, chana masala or garam masala.
- Can add vegetables and legumes of your choice.
I have tried masala pasta in Indian style twice before. Both times, I could not balance, so ended up as total flops.
So after that I never dared to try that way. But off late been craving for a spicy, desi style pasta, so wanted to give it a try.
And until I finished, I wasn’t sure about the result. But it turned out perfect!
So I should stick to this recipe for a while😁. I always have pasta in stock as I pack it for one day’s lunch box for Aj.
Mostly he likes penne pasta. Then if he gets bored, he ask me to buy either fusilli or macaroni. Well what's in shape, but these kids!
Few weeks back I found this farfalle aka bow-tie pasta at CPB Fairprice. I have never bought that cute shaped pasta before so, quickly bought it and kept.
I wanted to try something Italian with it, but I could not wait to try this masala pasta, so used it to make it.
For this masala pasta, I would recommend these kind of shapes rather than the long spaghetti kind of pastas.
This fits in perfect for lunch boxes or for dinner.
📖 Variations
- Add tikka masala in place of garam masala and spices.
- Creamy Masala pasta - Add ¼ cup cooking towards end.
- Cheesy pasta - Add cheddar cheese along with cream towards end.
- To make it Indian street style pasta, add sauces, and cream finally cheese in this same recipe.
- Add protein - Fortify it by adding ingredients like cooked chana or paneer, tofu etc.
Recipe card
Masala pasta recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pasta I used Farfalle
- 1 Onion
- 1 Tomato large
- 1 tablespoon Garlic finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 2 tablespoon chopped carrot
- 2 tablespoon Peas
- ¼ cup Chopped capsicum
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning Oregano
- 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves
- Salt
- 3 tablespoon Olive oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
Instructions
- Boil 4 to 5 cups water firstly and add the pasta, required salt. If you taste the water, it should be like sea water. That's the right amount.
- Cook for 10- 12 mins or as per the package instructions. I like mine to be fork soft. If you insert fork, it will be right texture.
- Drain in a metal strainer/ colander, once the pasta is done.
- Reserve ¼ cup water drained for later use.
- Boil water and keep the tomato immersed for a minute. Water should be boiling hot.
- After one minute, take out the tomato, run through cold water, peel off the skin. This is called blanching.Â
- Grind coarsely to get tomato puree.
- Heat a kadai with oil and temper with cumin seeds. Do not let it burn, so do it in medium flame.
- After that, add garlic and give it a stir for half a minute.
- Then add finely chopped onion and fry until transparent.
- In goes the vegetables. Add required salt and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame.
- Pour in the pureed tomato, red chilli, garam masala, turmeric powders, kasoori methi, italian seasoning.
- Furthermore, fry until the oil separates. May take a couple of minutes in medium flame.
- Add chopped capsicum lastly and fry for a minute.
- Finally add the cooked pasta. If the pasta is stuck to each other, add the reserved water to loosen it up.
- Stir well for a minute or two and lastly add black pepper powder and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Notes
- If you are an office goer, you can soak the pasta and when you are back from office, just boil water and add the pasta to it. Instantly, pasta gets cooked. But make sure not to over cook as there is more probability. This works only with best quality pasta. Low quality pasta or quick cook pasta gets dissolved when soaked.
- If making for kids, you can mix some butter along with olive oil.
- You can use vegetables of your choice. Like broccoli, sweet corn etc.
- Olive oil is good for health, so no need to be stingy in adding it.
Step by step
Cooking pasta
- Boil 4-5 cups water and add the pasta, required salt. If you taste the water, it should be like sea water. That's the right amount.
Cook for 10- 12 mins or as per the package instructions.
- Drain in a metal strainer, once the pasta is done. Reserve ¼ cup pasta cooked water drained for later use. Boil water and keep the tomato immersed for a minute. It should be boiling hot.
- Take out the tomato, run through cold water, peel off the skin. This is called blanching. Grind coarsely.
Make masala pasta
- Heat a kadai with oil and temper with cumin seeds. Do not let it burn, so do it in medium flame. Add garlic and give it a stir for half a minute.
- After that, add finely chopped onion and fry until transparent. Then add the vegetables. Sprinkle required salt and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame. Pour in pureed tomato, red chilli, garam masala, turmeric powders, kasoori methi, italian seasoning.
- Furthermore, fry until the oil separates. May take a couple of minutes in medium flame. Add chopped capsicum lastly and fry for a minute.
- Finally add the cooked pasta. If the pasta is stuck to each other, add the reserved water to loosen it up. Stir well for a minute or two and lastly add black pepper powder and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Enjoy masala pasta hot, perfectly jazzed up, just to satisfy the Indian taste buds. Try for this winter.
Fatima Nayani
Yummy..!! We Indians love every masaledar.. whether it is italian pasta or chinese noodles, we can make anything in our style.. 😉
Nivedhanams Sowmya
yummy, so may spices and delicious!! love pastas this way!!
Uma Shankar
I too make the same way except for kauri methi!looks very tasty!
Veena Theagarajan
My mum does this version and I never get same taste even after few tries.. This version looks interesting too
Meena Kannan
wow..best Tea-time snack or breakfast!!! soaking pasta before time is the great tip!! thanks for sharing!
jeyashri suresh
Lovely pasta. My all time favorite
Sony
Very colorful & interesting!!! Will definitely give it a try.... Btw u've mentioned the ingredients like turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala pow, Kasuri methi, Italian seasoning In your ingredients list but haven't mentioned then in the method, so r these optional ingredients? If not then at what stage do we add them? Thanks
Rajamanohari WS
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Rajamanohari WS
Tempting. .mouth watering dish.. I can't delay trying it..yummy pasta:)
Raks anand
Sorry updated now 🙂
Jayanthi Sindhiya
Yummy Indo Italian dish to satisfy our cravings 🙂
Divs
YUM! masala pasta looks perfect and very inviting!
Ruhi Saxena
hahahahaha votta comment...loved it 😉
bhavya
Nice
mani kannan
I am going to try first time pasta for that searching in google i was confused with many. This is quiet intersting from other. I am going to try this one...
DSK
Hi rak, u r t rock star... U always give me basic idea how to cook certain dishes... The pasta u given here, I made it with penne pasta.. And no olive oil and Italian seasoning.. But it was awesome... And I made it for first time.. And my in laws were like "yey divya".. And so much thanks to you..
Kalyani Sathish
Looks yummy Thanks for sharing
madhura yashavanth
Hi rak
I tried it came out awesome yummy taste. Thanks for sharing
Priya Shiva
I just tried this recepie...awesome!!! Thank you:)
Shriya Yeleswarapu
Delish! I added fresh mint and it really complimented the pasta!
Lekha Makwana
Simple and full of vegetables and even spices all in one pasta....lovely recipe i am going to try it today.....thks for sharing your lovely recipe....
Khushi S
Thank you so much for sharing making it for Sunday breakfast
Subashini N
Tried this today and as with your other recipes this too tasted awesome and we loved it a lot:)thanks for providing such a delicious twist to the pasta
Agila Kumar
Yummy to see tis but if i try na its not coming like this.instant pasta mix is coming well.Can u give some tips to make it like instant pasta.
Meeeeee
Cooked this masala pasta several times... My husband loves it... Thanks for the perfect recipe 🙂
Raks anand
Thankyou for your feedback 🙂 YOu can share your picture to my facebook page attached as a message or to [email protected], I have a tried tasted album to which I add these 🙂
Akila
What type of glass bowl are you using?
Raks anand
VISIONS corning ware, Akila
Unknown
You haven't mentioned how much pasta (in gms)... So that it would easy for us to measure
Champaka
I made this pasta for my kids and they loved it. Thanks RAKS for this amazing recipe.
Raks Anand
Thanks a lot for the feedback 🙂
bhargavi velury
Mam can we make without Italian seasoning
Raks Anand
Yes but it adds nice flavour
K
Excellent receipe..I added 1 cup finely chopped spinach and shredded panner..
We all enjoyed it..
Thanks for a wonderful twist
Raks Anand
That's a healthy add 🙂
NASIM KAZI
Hi raks I made the masala pasta for lunch today. Very tasty thanks for a lovely recipe
Raks Anand
Thank you 🙂