Chettinadu Thakali Pachadi | Tomato Dal

This is what I make when I am lazy or get tired of the usual sambar/rasam/kuzhambu/kootu to go along with rice. This is extremely simple, easy and quick to make, not to mention finger licking good. Just pair this Tomato Pachadi with Rice + ghee and some appalams and you have a delicious lunch ready in less than 30 min.

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 10 min
Cook time - 20 min

Onion - 1 medium sized, chopped finely
Tomato - 3 large ripe, chopped into small pieces
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Green chilli - 3-4, slit lengthwise and cut in half
Salt - as per need
Hing - a generous pinch
Jeera seeds/Cumin - 1/2 Tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Cooked Toor Dal/Tuvaram Paruppu - 1 cup
Tamarind paste - 2 Tsp
Oil - 2 Tbsp


How do you do it

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add hing, mustard, jeera seeds to pop and roast. Add onions and curry leaves, saute until onions start to turn a shade of brown.

2. Add the green chillies now and saute for a minute.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric, salt and mix well. Cook covered until the tomatoes are mashed completely and ooze out juice. Should take about 10 min.

4. Now add the cooked toor dal, 1 cup water, more salt if needed and tamarind paste and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer on medium flame for about 5 minutes.

5. Add more water if you would like a more loose pachadi.

6. Once the right consistency has reached, remove from flame.

Serve with rice and pappads.

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Spicy Red Potato Curry

This red potato curry is my favorite side dish to pair up with Pooris. Most people go with the yellow aloo side dish -  Aloo Bhaji when they make pooris but my preference is this red spicy gravy. Its a very simple onion-tomato gravy to which boiled potatoes are added, but the texture of this curry is quite thick and a little extra red-chilli powder to bump up the hotness. Take a chance with this gravy when you make pooris next time and I am sure you would agree with me that this is indeed a better accompaniment.

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - High
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook time - 20 min

Red Onion - 2 small/medium sized, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 4 Large sized, chopped
Potatoes - 2 , small sized, cubed into medium sized pieces
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Ginger garlic paste - 1 Tsp
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Cumin - 1 Tsp
Mustard - 1 Tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli Powder - 2 Tbsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as per need

How do you do it

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing, followed by mustard seeds, let it pop, add cumin seeds to roast. Add the onions, curry leaves, Ginger-Garlic paste in now and saute well until the onions are cooked - 5 minutes

2. Now add in the tomato pieces, turmeric, half the amount of salt required, toss well and close the kadai with a lid. Let the tomatoes get cooked in medium flame. wait for the tomatoes to disintegrate completely and form a gravy.

3. Meanwhile, Microwave the potato pieces in a bowl of water for about 3-4 minutes until they are half done. Drain and keep aside.

4. Once the tomatoes are cooked well, add the chilli powder now and mix well. Saute for a minute or two for the masala powders to get cooked.

3. Add about 2 cups of water to this now, remaining salt, potatoes and close the kadai with a lid. Let the curry boil for 10 minutes until all the flavors blend well and potatoes become tender.


Serve this delicious hot gravy with idli/dosai/pooris/chapathis etc.

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Tomato Pepper-Garlic Rasam

Rasam always tops my list of "easy and quick" dishes to make. This particular variety of tomato-garlic-pepper-cumin mix rasam is my favorite. I use the exact same recipe that my mom uses but I always end up feeling that I am not able to replicate the taste of amma's. Maybe that's what they call "kai pakuvam" :)
I always grind a fresh mix for rasam and do not prefer the rasam powder, that makes this an instant rasam recipe. Just a few ingredients and your rasam is ready to slurp off the plate ;)

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 10 min
Cook time - 10 min

Oil - 2 Tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Tomato - 1 small, chopped roughly
Tamarind extract - 1 Tbsp (thick)
Water - 2-3 cups
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Urad dal - 1 Tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 Tsp
Dry Red chilli - 1
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt - as per need
Cumin-pepper powder mix - 1 Tsp
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup loosely packed

To grind to a puree

Tomato - 2 medium sized
Garlic - 3 cloves
Jeera/Cumin - 2 Tsp
Pepper - 1/2 Tbsp

How do you do it

1. Make a puree of the give items under "To puree". Transfer the puree to the bowl, mix in the tamarind extract, 1 cup of water and curry leaves to it. Keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add hing and then mustard seeds to pop, add urad dal, cumin seeds and let them brown. Break the dry red chilli and add it in.

3. Add the tomatoes now and the turmeric powder. Wait till the tomato pieces soften a little, then add the puree mix prepared in step one. Mix well

4. Add 1.5 cups of water more, and let it come to slow boil. Let the rasam boil for a few minutes until the raw taste disappears and all the flavors are soaked in. I let it boil for about 5 minutes. Add coriander leaves to the rasam and switch off stove.

5. Set aside a bowl with required salt [2 tsp], and add the pepper-cumin powder to this. Take the pot with rasam off the heat and directly pour in this bowl and mix well.

Serve this hot and soothing rasam with rice, potato curry and appalam which is our favorite combo.

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Tomato Thokku | Tomato Pickle

Dear Tomato Thokku,

You were supposed to be my 100th post, I was constantly debating if I should push you down to 99. I also noticed my frequency at posting here has become quite less, that has nothing to do with you, I just have a zillion things to do at the moment. Owing to the many changes that will happen in due course, I decided that my 100th post has to be some Indian sweet, aptly coinciding with the holiday season :-).

I spent a few hours on an uneventful weekend to prepare two bottles of tomato thokku. I have relished you over the past few months and how comfortable it was not to think about preparing a side-dish for rice, dosai, roti, pesarattu/adai, etc. I just serve you with every meal and everybody is happy. Nobody complains. Thats how good and addictive you were :).

So I hope you understand that even though my 100th on this blog will be an Indian sweet, I absolutely think that you are one of the most delicious recipe of my Amma.

-S

Now that I am done with my apology note for making this as the 99th post, we shall move on to the super recipe of this tomato thokku! ;). This recipe does take a lot of time, but if you can get it done over the weekend,  the work-week forward will be such a breeze with respect to cooking, as you can serve this up with almost anything.

Ingredients

Recipe Source - Amma
Serves - approx 800 ml of pickle/thokku.
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 1 hr
Cook time - 2hrs

Ripe Tomatoes - 2 kg [approx 20 nos.]
Oil - 1/2 cup plus few tbsp
Mustard - 1tbsp + 1 Tsp
Hing - 1 Tsp
Fenugreek powder - 3/4 Tsp
Red chilli powder - 2.5 Tbsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - as per need

How do you do it

1. Bring a large stew pot filled with 3/4 water to boil. Once it starts boiling , add all the tomatoes in the pot. Let the tomatoes get cooked for about 20 minutes in the boiling water. At this time you can see the tomatoes skin peeing off. Once done, switch off flame. Let the tomatoes rest in the hot water for about 20-30 minutes.

2. After the resting time, remove the tomatoes, cool them and peel the skin off. Keep aside. Drain the water off from the stew pot. 

3. Heat 1/2 cup oil in the stew pot. Add hing and mustard , let them splutter.

4. Standing at a safe distance , your face away from the pot, drop all the tomatoes in. A little spluttering will happen now. Add a  pinch of turmeric and salt and give the tomatoes a quick stir. Close the stew pot with a lid.

5. On medium flame, let the tomatoes cook. They should completely break down, reducing into a liquid mass. This will take close to 1.5hr to 2 hrs. Keep stirring, mashing up the tomatoes every now and then with your ladle. Mid time or towards the end of the 2 hrs, if you feel that the mixture is sticking too much to the pan or if its a little dry, add a few tbsp of oil and stir it in.

6. After 1.5-2 hrs, once the tomatoes have reduced completely [few  thick pieces of tomatoes here and there are okay], add salt, chilli powder, fenugreek powder and mix well. Let the reduced tomatoes thicken into a pickle consistency.

7. Check for spice-salt level, add more if necessary. Once the correct consistency is reached, switch off flame. Cool and store in refrigerator. Keeps well for about 2-3 weeks.

This is like an universal side dish. It goes well with curd rice, rasam rice, dosai, rotis, bread and many others. Beware - its very addictive :)

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Tomato Basil Soup

Soups are comfort food for many of us and nothing can beat that. A rainy season, a cold evening , a day spent on bed feeling sick  - that's exactly when a cup of piping hot soup does not fail to soothe you. Even if it weren't for all these different moods, I love taking in a huge bowl of yummy soup along with my favorite flavored bread for a very healthy and filling dinner.

Aromas cafe in Mumbai is one of my favorite places not for the coffee they serve but for their wide variety of entree and soups. Every time I step in there, I have to order their tomato basil soup and chicken satay ,otherwise they would feel left out. ;) .So I have been wanting to replicate that tomato basil soup for quite sometime. Last weekend was when I got around to it and made the soup along with garlic pull apart rolls for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed them :)

Oh and I almost forgot to mention the argument me and S had before clicking this picture. I don't have a very photogenic soup bowl in my collection yet and we had to really explore crockery options for this. I was strictly for using a white bowl which would really enhance the bright orange color of the soup , but S was quite sure this huge coffee mug would be attractive too. And the verdict? - I don't think this crockery did justice to the soup , and look at that basil tree sitting inside the coffee mug , not my idea people! :). I got my way eventually , we have a click saved with the same soup in a white bowl , but I am saving that pic for when I show you the awesome recipe for garlic pull apart bread.So we shall take a poll then to see whose side you are on OK? ;)

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients

Adapted from Sanjeev Kapoors Tomato soup

Serves - 2 [large servings]
Prep Time - 5 min
Cook time - 20 min

Tomatoes - 8 quartered
Basil Leaves - 3-4 + 2 [chopped thinly]
Onion - 1 medium sized , sliced thinly
Carrot - 1 medium length , sliced thinly
Garlic cloves - 4 chopped well
Bay leaf - 1
Pepper corns - 6
Oil - 1/2 Tsp
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 Tsp
Crushed pepper corns - for seasoning
Salt - for  seasoning
Water - 3 cups

How do you do it

Heat a pan with the oil and butter. Once butter melts add bay leaf.After a few seconds add the onions , pepper corns and saute till the onions are translucent [it should not brown]. Add in the garlic cloves and carrot slices and saute for 2-3 more minutes. Add the tomato pieces , basil leaves and saute for a couple of more minutes. Add in 3 cups of water and bring to boil. Cover with lid and let it cook in medium flame for 10-15 minutes. Once done drain the water and reserve it. Discard the peppercorns and bay-leaf. Allow the rest to cool. Once cooled, blend the mixture along with some reserved water into a smooth puree.Pass this through a sieve and press the puree well to get all the liquid from it.

Bring this soup liquid to a boil again and add in the reserved water to adjust consistency of soup.Add 1/2 tsp sugar and chopped basil leaves and stir well. Season with required salt and crushed pepper.

Serve with your favorite starter/choice of bread. :)
 
 Notes

To make it creamy, you can add in 1/4 cup cream or 1/2 cup milk and let it thicken on low flame

If you have added too much reserved water  by mistake, you can mix few tbsp of corn-flour with water and add it to the soup and boil it on low flame until it thickens

You can skip the basil if you don't have them and just follow the same recipe to make tomato soup.
 

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Tomato Rice

Tomato rice is my back-up lunch on saturdays when i wake up and see its 11 AM. ;). And i must say thats a regular too. :P. So tomato rice, papad, raita and TV figures in our lazy saturdays.

I must give credit to S since i learnt this simple recipe from him and there was never turning back for another recipe.It always amazes me that something this simple and easy can taste so wonderful. This is also a quick lunch box item that can be made in minutes. My version uses regular ingredients and none of those extra stuff like coconut milk/curd , peanuts, mint etc is needed.


Tomato Rice

Ingredients

Serves - 2-3
Spice Level - Medium

Tomatoes - 3 large ones [chopped]
Onion - 1 large finely chopped
Green chill - 2 slit lengthwise
Masala/curry/Chilli powder - 2.5 tbspn
Salt - as per taste
Turmeric powder -  a pinch
Coriander leaves - a handful, washed/chopped well

bay leaves - 1
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cumin - 1 tspn
ginger-garlic paste - 1 tspn

Long grain Basmati rice  - 1.5 cups
water - 2.25 cups

Method

First wash the rice and soak in water and proceed with the following.

Heat oil in a pan. Add bayleaves , cinnamon, cloves and jeera, let them roast. Add in the onions and green chillis. Give it a stir for a minute or two. Now add the ginger-garlic paste. Saute till onions are translucent. Now throw in the tomatoes, stir it, add little salt and a pinch of turmeric powder. Stir it well for a minute and close the lid. Wait till the tomatoes are soft and  let out juices and it should be mashed well. This will take 10-12 minutes. Now add in the curry powder and saute till the raw smell of curry powder vanishes. This will take a minute. Now add in the corainder leaves, drain the water from the soaked rice, and add the rice too to the kadai and stir well for two minutes. Switch off flame.

Now empty the contents of the kadai in to the electric-pressure-cooker vessel, add 2.25 cups of water and salt. Add enough salt till you can taste the salt slightly in the water. That would be the right amount.Cook for 15 minutes.

Serve with papad and raita. Yumm! :)

Notes

1. Dont forget to soak the rice in water for atleast 15-20 minutes , and ensure to saute the rice along with curry mixture. This will help in  rice standing separately from each other.

2. The ratio of basmati rice to water is always 1:1.5 and not 1:2. I initially used to make it with 1:2 ratio, and ended up with rice sticking to each other or it being a tad overcooked.

3. You can skip  the bayleaf/cinnamon/cloves if you dont have them, it will pretty much be the same.

4. Adding little salt and turmeric to the tomatoes, helps them cook more easily and faster. So whenever you add tomatoes to the kadai , in any recipe, follow it up with little salt, a pinch of turmeric and stir it well to make it cook faster.


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Milagai Chutney

This Onion-Tomato-Coriander-Chilli cutney often comes to my resuce when i want to rustle up a really quick absolutely delicious side dish for dosai/idli/paniyaram/appam/adai and so on - an accompaniment with almost any "batter" based dish.

Milagai chutney

Ingredients

Onions - 3 big chopped roughly
Tomato - 2 chopped roughly
Red Chilli - 3
Coriander leaves - a handful
Mustard seeds- 1 tspn
Urad Dal - 1 tspn
Oil - 2 tspn
Salt - as per taste

To Temper

Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Urad dal - 1 tspn
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Oil - 2 tspn

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, and when they crackle, add the urad dal. When the urad dal turns brown, add the onions and saute it just until its about to turn brown. Now add in the chopped tomato and salt and saute it till it becomes soft and gives out its juice. Add the coriander leaves and red chilli, and saute for a minute or two and switch off flame. Cool it and blend into a fine or coarse paste in the mixer. Transfer this to a serving bowl.

Now heat oil in the same pan and add  the given ingredients under "To Temper". Pour this over the chutney. Serve hot with idli/dosai

We had them with godhumai[wheat] dosai's for dinner. :)

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