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Science-backed recipe

Red Sauce Pasta, the Indian Café Way

Also called Masala Pasta · Indian Red Sauce Pasta · रेड सॉस पास्ता · ریڈ ساس پاستا

Lunch & dinnerVegetarianInstant Pot

Penne in a garlicky, lightly spiced tomato sauce with onions and peppers, finished with butter, oregano and cheese.

From the MedRise Food Science kitchenPublished
Active
30 min
Prep
10 min
Total
30 min
Serves
4
Jump to recipeInstant Pot methodRead the science
Penne in a spiced red tomato sauce with peppers and cheese

Why this recipe works

  • ✓
    Café favoriteThe Indian take on arrabbiata.
  • ✓
    30 minutesOne pan of sauce.
  • ✓
    Peeled tomatoesSilky, not bitter.
  • ✓
    Mild or spicyYour call on chili flakes.

What is Indian red sauce pasta?

Red sauce pasta is the Indian café and home version of Italian tomato pasta: garlicky, a little spicy, often with onions and peppers. For the Italian classic, skip the Kashmiri chili and peppers and use more chili flakes: that’s arrabbiata.

A pile of ripe red tomatoes

Meet the ingredients

The main ingredients, with their English, Hindi and Urdu names.

A pile of ripe red tomatoes

Tomatoes

टमाटरٹماٹر
ṭamāṭar

Ripe, peeled, or canned crushed.

Its job: The sauce.

Grow it yourself: Tomatoes, Bell peppers (capsicum), Cilantro (dhania), Garlic

The lab notes

The science behind every step

Restaurant cooks do these things by habit. Here’s what each step is actually doing to the food, so you can cook by understanding instead of guesswork.

Lab note01

Bloom chili and garlic in oil

Cook garlic and chili flakes gently in oil first.

Garlic’s flavor and the chili’s capsaicin are fat-soluble; warming them in oil spreads both through the sauce.

Lab note02

Starchy pasta water makes it creamy

Save a cup of pasta water.

Pasta water carries dissolved starch that binds oil and water into a glossy sauce that clings instead of pooling.

Technique, step by step

How to peel tomatoes, the food-science way

Score, blanch for 30–60 seconds, chill in ice water, and the skins slip right off. Peeled tomatoes cook into a smoother, silkier masala with no chewy flecks of skin.

  1. Scoring a shallow X on the bottom of a ripe tomato with a paring knife
    1. ScoreCut a shallow X through the skin on the bottom of each tomato.
  2. Scored tomatoes in boiling water with the skins starting to split at the X
    2. BlanchLower the tomatoes into rolling boiling water (a saucepan, or the Instant Pot on Sauté, More/High) for 30–60 seconds, just until the skin at the X starts to split.
  3. Blanched tomatoes going into an ice-water bath with their skins loosened
    3. ChillLift them straight into a bowl of ice water for about 1 minute.
  4. Slipping the loosened skin off a blanched tomato
    4. PeelStarting at the X, slip the skins off with your fingers. Cut out the core, then chop or blend.

Why peel at all?

Tomato skin is a tough, waxy layer that doesn’t break down with cooking; in a long-cooked masala it curls into chewy flecks. The skin is also where almost all of a tomato’s flavonoids sit, mainly naringenin chalcone and rutin, the kind of plant compounds that can taste faintly bitter or astringent. Texture is the bigger, better-proven reason, but peeled tomatoes give the smoothest, cleanest-tasting gravy.

Why the boiling water works

A short plunge heats only the outer layer. The heat weakens the pectin that glues the skin to the flesh, and steam forming underneath pushes the skin away, so it splits and curls back at the X while the flesh inside stays raw and firm.

Why the ice bath

Ice water stops the cooking at once, so the flesh doesn’t turn soft and mushy, and makes the tomatoes cool enough to peel right away. More than about a minute in the boiling water starts to cook the flesh.

Sources: National Center for Home Food Preservation: Put It Up! Boiling Water Canning · Muir et al., Nature Biotechnology (2001): flavonoids in tomato peel

How to make it, at a glance

  1. Garlic and chiliWarm the oil over medium-low heat, add the garlic and chili flakes and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
  2. Onion and pepperAdd the onion until soft, 5 minutes, then the bell pepper for 2 minutes, then the salt and Kashmiri chili for 30 seconds.
  3. SimmerAdd the tomatoes, oregano and sugar and simmer until thick, 12–15 minutes.
  4. Cook the pastaBoil the penne until al dente, saving 1 cup pasta water.
  5. TossAdd the pasta, butter and a splash of pasta water to the sauce and toss until glossy. Top with cheese and herbs.

Exact amounts and timings are in the recipe card below.

Questions, answered

What is arrabbiata?

The Italian spicy tomato sauce of garlic, chili and tomatoes, without onions or peppers.

About MedRise Food Science

Desi restaurant favorites, recreated at home and explained with food science: every recipe is tested in a home kitchen and comes with the why behind each step.

Penne in a spiced red tomato sauce with peppers and cheese
Recipe card

Red Sauce Pasta

Indian-style red sauce pasta: penne in a garlicky tomato sauce with onion, bell pepper, chili flakes, oregano and a little Kashmiri chili, finished with butter and cheese. Kid-friendly and ready in 30 minutes.

Prep10 minCook20 minTotal30 minServes4 servings

Ingredients

Sauce

Pasta

Instructions

  1. Garlic and chiliWarm the oil over medium-low heat, add the garlic and chili flakes and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
  2. Onion and pepperAdd the onion until soft, 5 minutes, then the bell pepper for 2 minutes, then the salt and Kashmiri chili for 30 seconds.
  3. SimmerAdd the tomatoes, oregano and sugar and simmer until thick, 12–15 minutes.
  4. Cook the pastaBoil the penne until al dente, saving 1 cup pasta water.
  5. TossAdd the pasta, butter and a splash of pasta water to the sauce and toss until glossy. Top with cheese and herbs.

Instant Pot method

The penne cooks right in the sauce. Layer it, don’t stir it: water on the bottom, pasta in the middle, tomatoes on top. Thick tomato sitting on the bottom of the pot is what trips the Burn warning.

  1. Sauté the baseSelect Sauté (More/High). Warm the oil and cook the garlic and chili flakes for 1 minute, the onion until soft, 4–5 minutes, the bell pepper for 2 minutes, then the salt and Kashmiri chili for 30 seconds. Press Cancel.
  2. Deglaze and layerPour in 3 cups water and scrape the bottom completely clean. Add the penne in an even layer and press it under the water, then pour the crushed tomatoes, oregano and sugar over the top. Don’t stir.
  3. Pressure cookLock the lid, set the valve to Sealing and pressure cook on High for half the lowest time on the package, minus 1 minute (4 minutes for 10-minute penne). Quick release in short bursts.
  4. FinishStir well; the sauce thickens as it stands for 2–3 minutes. Stir in the butter, loosen with a splash of water if needed, and top with cheese and herbs.

Notes

Pink sauce
Stir in ¼ cup cream for the café-favorite pink sauce pasta.

Equipment

  • Instant Pot (6 qt), for the Instant Pot method
  • Large pot
  • Large skillet

Course: Main Course · Cuisine: Indian-Italian fusion
MedRise Food Science

Sources & further reading