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Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Tomato Pickle, The Simpler Way

My parents and husband come from different parts of the same state. I therefore have a couple (sometimes more) of versions/recipes to follow, when I am planning to prepare a dish. Sometimes, the same dish has different names too. Tomato pachchadi / ooragaya is also prepared differently in our families. My mom has a version of tomato nilva pachchadi which can be stored year long without any refrigeration. My mom's version uses sun dried tomatoes. I cannot afford that much of sunshine in Chicago and so, I went by my SIL's directions and prepared this tomato pachchadi which can also stay fresh for at least six months, if refrigerated. That is another thing whether you will have any thing left to refrigerate, once you taste it. Two cups of pachchadi was gone in less than a week at my place and we don't live in a hostel. And yes, the number of adults in our home is only two. The preparation is simpler compared to my mom's version. Though, it is going to take around an hour to prepare this, there is no need to show your love and attention through out the process. Plan to prepare this pachchadi, when you are cooking a meal in the kitchen. Just stir the mixture once in a while to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pan. You can cook the mixture with occasional stirring on low -medium flame, for most of the part (80% of the cooking). The final stages need to be cooked on low flame with almost constant stirring. The final product should look like the one in the picture (almost as thick as homemade puliyogare gojju). It goes well with rice and a tsp of ghee or as a side dish with any Indian breakfasts.

Ingredients: Chopped tomatoes - 5 cups Thick tamarind extract - 1 cup Chili powder - 1/2 cup Salt - Accordingly Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp Oil - 8 Tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp And a deep bottomed, non stick pan Wash the tomatoes thoroughly and chop them in to medium sized pieces. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and add tomatoes to it. Fry on medium flame for about five minutes. Remove them from heat. Let them cool a little bit and puree them in a blender. Again add remaining oil, tomato puree,tamarind, turmeric powder, asafoetida to the pan and keep cooking on medium flame. Since the mixture tends to splatter, cover the pan with the lid. You can cook on medium flame and keep stirring once in a while in the initial stages of cooking. Later turn down the heat to avoid the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook till the mixture reaches almost solid stage as in the picture. Then add chili powder and salt and let it simmer for about five minutes. Heat a tsp of oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, remove and add it to the tomato chutney. Let it cool and store it in a glass jar and refrigerate it.
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25 comments:

bee said...

what a glorious picture that is!

we have a lot of tomatoes ripning on our vines and we will definitely make this, suma.

Seema Bhat said...

Suma gosh!! I love the red color of the chutney.Looks yummy.

dame's diary said...

yummmmmm!

Suganya said...

Easy one Suma. I would even add garlic to this!

Shivapriya said...

You got the prefect colour. Tomato pachadi maa andariki chala ishetam. I will try this version sometime.

Lata said...

I make the same chutney almost every other Sat. Tomatoes are less pricey in my farmers market and we both like this chutney.

indosungod said...

What a colorful pickle. Love pickles of all kinds. This looks really mouth watering.

Jyothi said...

Hi Suma! even I used to prepare in the same way. Ooragaya looks yummy and lovely color too. Thanks for sharing dear.

ushaprashanth said...

Hi!
I too will make this but will not saute tomato...I think this will be more tastier..

FH said...

Looks colorful and beautiful Suma.I got some fresh Tomatoes from my garden too,will try!:)

Srivalli said...

Very nice recipe

Srivalli
www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

USHA said...

Hi Suma,
Thanks for dropping by...i like this tomato pickle...my mom prepare in the season alot...oh i miss it ....now i got the recipe...prepare myself..Thanks.

Bharathy said...

Hi Suma..
Welcome to my place,Suma.Me too here for the first time.You have a wonderful collection of veggie recipes.Love the recipes..esp mirch ka salan..classique pics...they are bright and attractive Suma..!!!Keep up your good work..

Shobana senthilkumar said...

Hi suma,
ur picture looks great with all ripe tomatoes.Yummy dish too...

http://priars.blogspot.com

Sia said...

thats one gorgeous pic suma. looks so bright n rich. does it really take that long to cook? and what is its shelf life?

Bharathy said...

Suma,
I saw ur comment in SIA's brinjal palya...that you r looking out for the recipe of rasvangi...its a tamil traditional dish..:) and I am informing you here that is posted as one of the entries for JFI Brinjals,by my pal suganya of tasty palates..:)...you can visit her recipe post through my blog..if u please..:)

DEEPA said...

what a color man this one is ..too good ..excellent recipe ....yummy chutney

Suma Gandlur said...

Bee,
Send me some. Usually I pay aorund 1$ per lb.:)

Seema,
I loved the gorgeous color too.

Suma Gandlur said...

Usha,
Love to learn your saute free version. Post it some time.

Suma Gandlur said...

Bharathy,
Thx for the info. The restaurant guy did not follow the authentic version, I guess. It was all sweet and sour.
I saw Suganya's post before visiting Sia's.Suganya did not use any sweetener.

Suma Gandlur said...

Supriya,
It took me around 45 minutes - 1 hr. We finished the pickle within a week. There was nothing left to check it's shelf life. My SIL was telling me that it can stay fresh upto 6 months, if refrigerated.

Prema Sundar said...

Tomato pickle looks gorgeous Suma.. got a good colour and I bet it would have tasted great..Thanks for the recipe.

Namratha said...

This simply looks delicious and what better season to make tomato ooragay than now! You have some lovely recipes here...nice blog!:)

Shella said...

Yumma-Suma. I was just trying to rhyme it. I meant yummy-Suma. This was also one of my favorites during those days. I really missed knowing any Andhraite for a long time. Now I guess I can make them on my own.

Thanks.

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