This mind-blowing tandoori pasta is a recipe you simple need to try out Made in under 30 minutes, SO hearty, tasty & feels like a hug in a bowl.
Let's start with a quick disclaimer. This is not exactly an authentic dish. It's simply a fun recipe I’ve been making for YEARS and has always been SUCH a hit with our friends and family.
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💌 Why I Love This Recipe
- Made in 30 minutes
- A crowd-pleaser
- SUPER easy
- Ideal comfort food
- Serve with any veggies or sides
- No ready-made sauces
It also happens to be vegan AND gluten-free!
🌱 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need for this simple tandoori pasta.
Hint - don't get scared! I know it can seem like a lot of ingredients but most of these are cupboard staples.
Ingredients Details
- Olive oil can be substituted for sunflower, coconut, rapeseed, hemp etc. oil
- Spring onions can be replaced with more brown/white onion
- Garlic can be adjusted to taste - I like a stronger garlic flavour so keep that in mind when making the sauce.
- Pasta - I used wholewheat fusilli pasta. Any medium-shaped pasta will work! use gluten-free pasta for a GF version.
- Cream / yoghurt- can be stirred in at the end if desired. I like to use soy cream or coconut yoghurt.
- Maple syrup can be replaced with a similar liquid sweetener or brown sugar.
- Diced (chopped) tomatoes from a can. They're super affordable and available all year round.
For seasoning, I used cardamom, paprika, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper to taste.
Don't worry if you don't have some of these, the recipe will still work - see the Substitutions section below!
⏲️ Steps
The cooking process is SO simple!
- Gently sauté onions for 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute. Then add all the seasoning and toast for 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes and water to the pan. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook your pasta according to package instructions. When the pasta is cooked, reserve ½ cup of water and drain the rest. Add the cooked pasta along with the reserved water to the pan. Finally, add lemon juice, maple syrup, salt & black pepper to taste.
Stir well and serve with optional yoghurt or cream. Garnish with fresh cilantro / coriander and chilli flakes (optional).
Hint: If you find the sauce is too dry, simply add a splash of water (or more) until you're happy with the consistency.
💡 Top Tips
- Always taste test before serving.
You can then adjust the flavours & seasoning to taste.
For example, if you enjoy spicy food you may want to add in more cayenne pepper or chilli flakes.
It's also a good idea to adjust the salt levels to your taste.
- Don't overcook the pasta
When cooking the pasta, aim for 'al dente' consistency.
This is the optional pasta texture. The pasta is tender, but remains chewy, with a sturdy shape.
If you're unsure, it's safer to cook it for slightly shorter rather than too long. Once you toss the pasta in the pan of sauce, it will become even softer.
- Extra protein & toppings
An easy way to add more protein to this recipe is to use soybean, lentil or chickpea pasta.
I also encourage you to serve it with more veggies. I like to add steamed broccoli, bell peppers, or some smoked tofu on the side.
Extra tip - Prefer a smooth sauce? Use an immersion blender to blend it until completely smooth.
🌶 Substitutions
Seasoning - if you're missing any of the spices, here are some good alternatives:
- curry powder
- ground coriander
- coriander seeds
- ground ginger
- ginger powder
- onion powder
Oil-free: Simply replace the oil with water one tablespoon at a time. Add more water to prevent the veggies from sticking to the pan if required.
👩🍳 Equipment
This is all the equipment you'll need:
- Measuring cups or scales - to measure you ingredients
- Knife & chopping board - to prepare your veggies
- 1 large frying pan - to cook the sauce
- 1 pan - to cook the pasta
- 1 spatula - to stir the sauce
📦 Storage
Simply let your delicious pasta cool down to room temperature.
Then pop it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge. It should stay good for 3-4 days.
Remember to heat it up properly before serving again.
🔥 Food safety
- Don't leave your pans unattended.
- Always serve your pasta dish piping hot.
- Don't let the food stand out at room temperature for long periods of time.
- Store it in an airtight container in the fridge instead.
🍝 More Pasta
If you're a lover of healthy comfort food, you've come to the right place. You might enjoy my
Got any questions? Just leave a comment below and I'll be happy to help you out!
Made this tandoori pasta? If you made this recipe it would mean a LOT to me if you could leave a comment & star rating below - seeing your comments always makes my day!
🍴Recipe
The BEST Tandoori Sauce Pasta
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 green onions spring onion, scallion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large thumb ginger minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14 oz/400g
- 4 ounces (110 g) dry pasta or GF pasta
- 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1.5 teaspoon maple syrup
- salt and pepper to taste
Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder or to taste
Garnish
- red chilli flakes to taste, optional
- ⅓ cup (3 tablespoon) cilantro coriander
- ⅓ cup (80 g) yoghurt / cream soy yoghurt, coconut yoghurt, soy cream, etc
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add oil to a large frying pan. Then add onions and green onions. Gently sauté for 5 minutes.1 onion, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 green onions
- Then add garlic and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute.4 cloves garlic, 1 large thumb ginger
- Add all the seasoning. Toast for 1 minute to release the aroma.1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon paprika powder, 2 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoon turmeric, 2 teaspoon garam masala, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- Add tomatoes and ½ cup (120ml) water to the pan. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.1 can diced tomatoes
- In the meantime, cook your pasta in a separate pan.4 ounces dry pasta
- When the pasta is cooked, reserve ½ cup of pasta water and drain the rest.
- Add cooked pasta along with the reserved water to the pan.
- Finally, add lemon juice, maple syrup, salt & black pepper to taste.1.5 tablespoon lemon juice, 1.5 teaspoon maple syrup, salt and pepper to taste
- Stir well and serve. Garnish with fresh cilantro / coriander and chilli flakes (optional).⅓ cup cilantro
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The nutritional information above is calculated automatically. The author of this post cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of this data.
Amanda says
So delicious! I'm usually not a fan of tomato style sauces - they can be too overwhelmingly tomato-ey. This one is not like that at all -it feels fresh with plenty of flavoring. I added some extra bell peppers too. Thank you for the delicious recipe.!