Tomato Pickle

Tomato Pickle

Ingredients: Red tomatoes – 12 medium size Tamarind – 1 fistful, deveined and deseeded Garlic cloves – 20 medium to big size, peeled Red chilli powder – ¾ cup Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – 3 tsp Cumin seeds – 2 tsp Rock Salt – ¾ cup Groundnut oil – ¾ cup Instructions: Wash the tomatoes in water to get rid of any dirt or dust. Take a kitchen towel and wipe them so that there is no trace of wetness. If required, dry them in room temperature for another 10 minutes. Finely chop all the tomatoes and add them into a big pan. Add rock salt and tamarind into it. Switch ON the flame and cook it on medium flame stirring occasionally. The tomatoes start to turn soft and mushy. Keep boiling until most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture starts to thicken. Keep stirring in order to prevent burning at the bottom of the pan. When the tomatoes are reduced to less than ¼ and isn’t easily slipping of the spatula, switch OFF the flame and allow it to cool. Once cooled, add it into the blender and blend into coarse or fine paste based on your preference. In a small kadai add fenugreek seeds and saute them on medium flame until they slightly change the colour to brown. Dish them out into a blender. Add cumin seeds and saute until they start to pop. Then, add them into the blender. Add 2 teaspoons of mustard seeds into the kadai and saute until they pop. Be watchful as they pop bit faster when compared to the cumin seeds. Add them into the blender and allow to cool. Once cooled, blend all the 3 spices together into fine powder and set aside.

Take a kadai and add oil into it. Switch ON the flame and allow the oil to heat. When the oil is hot add 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add peeled garlic cloves and switch OFF the flame. Let the garlic cloves fry using existing heat in the pan. Otherwise, they tend to burn out easily. Allow the hot oil to cool down under room temperature. When the bubbles reduce and the oil is warm, add red chilli powder, ¾th portion of ground spice powder (blend of cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds) and mix well. Now, add tomato paste and mix well until all the spices blend together. Quick and tasty tomato pickle is ready within minutes. Let this tomato pickle cool down completely before it’s transferred into a clean and dry glass or plastic bottle. You may also use ceramic containers with a tight lid to store pickles. Pickles must be stored in cool and dry place. This pickle can be consumed immediately. But, if you can wait for atleast 6 hours after preparation, it tastes heavenly as the tomatoes would have absorbed all the flavours. This pickle doesn’t need any refrigeration and lasts at least a month. TIP 1: Make pickles in small batches and use them fresh. TIP 2: Make sure that you do not use a wet spoon whenever you are dishing out the pickle. Any sort of wetness in the pickle will perish it faster. Always use clean and dry spoon. TIP 3: Do not leave the spoon in the pickle as they get ruined. This pickle goes well with rice, dosa, idli, upma, chapati, curd rice, ragi roti etc. The spicy and tangy flavour with bits of garlic bites here and there is what makes it so special to yearn for it. Sometimes, we, South Indians rely on pickles as a substitute for curries whenever we are lazy to cook. When it’s so easy to make at home why buy from stores with high preservatives? Eat healthy and stay healthy should be the mantra going forward for better living. We have always heard from others that making pickle is an art. Trust me. It’s so simple that anyone can make it at the comfort of their home. Do try out and let me know your comments.