TOMATO PACHADI

TOMATO PACHADI

I remember reading that tomatoes were brought to India by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Nowadays, both in the south of India and the north, we use tomatoes in so many dishes in our Indian cuisine. Call it thakkakli in Tamizh or tamartar in Hindi, we find tomatoes used in almost every place where food is served – from the five-star luxury hotel to the Dhaba common highway.

Tomatoes have countless health benefits as described in this article in Very Well Health.

Elsewhere in this blog you will find recipes for dishes made with tomatoes, such as: –

If you want to avoid using garlic, you can use a 1/4-inch piece of ginger instead when grinding.

We recently tried this and enjoyed it with hot idlis for breakfast.

Ingredients:-

• Tomatoes, medium, 4
• Byadgi red peppers, 4
• Chana Dal (Bengali gram), 3/4 tbsp
• Urad Dal, (black gram), 3/4 tbsp
• Cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder, 1/8 teaspoon
• Garlic cloves, 2
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 1 tsp

For tempering:-

• Mustard seeds, 1/4 teaspoon
• Urad Dal, 1/2 tsp
• Hing, (Asafoetida), 1/8 tsp
• Curry leaves, a few
• Dried red chili pepper, broken in half, 1
• Oil, 1 and 1/2 tsp

Method:-

Wash and cut the tomatoes

Peel and chop the garlic

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai and roast the Byadgi red chillies, chana dal and urad dal over medium heat until the dals change color and the chillies become crispy

Add the cumin seeds and toast for a few seconds

Transfer to a plate and let cool

Add the chopped garlic to the same kadhai and fry, to this add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt and mix well

Cover and cook over medium heat until it becomes soft and mushy

Let this cool

In a blender, grind the roasted chillies, urad dal, chana dal and cumin seeds on pulse setting until it is ground into a coarse powder

To this, add the cooked tomatoes and very little water and grind to a chutney-like consistency

Check for salt and add if necessary. Transfer to a bowl