To prep the veggies, add onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies to a food processor or mixer grinder, and chop till it resembles a coarse chop. Remove this mixture in a bowl, and add tomatoes and grind them to puree.

Grind cashews with the water they were soaked in, to a smooth paste and set aside.

In a large pan or kadhai, heat oil and ghee and add cumin seeds. Once the seeds start spluttering add onion mixture.

Cook stirring occasionally on high for 7 minutes, 8 minutes on medium and cook on low for 40-45 minutes till the onion mixture turns brownish in colour and oil separates from the sides (as shown in the video above).

Add tomato puree, salt and all the remaining spices and cook on high heat while stirring continuously for two minutes. Reduce the flame and cook for another 25-30 minutes with the lid on, till the mixture reduces a little, and you can see oil start to appear on top.

Add cashew paste, mix and cook covered with the lid on low heat for 15 minutes till the oil separates from the sides and take off the heat. This recipe yields approx. 2 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons of bhuna masala.

Use this as a base for curries and stir fries. To store for later, cool completely before transferring into ziplock bags or freezer friendly food safe storage containers.

Bhuna Masala stays in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to three months.