Tomato Pachadi Recipe (Zesty Tomato Condiment)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil – any neutral oil or gingelly oil (sesame oil).
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon urad dal (husked split black gram)
• 8 fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
• 2 byadagi chillies or kashmiri red chillies
• 10 to 12 curry leaves
• 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
• 1 cup heaped chopped tomatoes – 150 grams
• ½ teaspoon tamarind – without seeds
• ¼ to ⅓ cup water – for grinding or add as required
• salt as required

Steps

Making tomato mixture

1. Warm 1 tablespoon oil in a pan over low heat.
2. Put in the mustard seeds and allow them to start crackling.
3. As the mustard seeds begin to crackle, add the urad dal.
4. Fry the urad dal over low heat, stirring frequently, until golden.
5. Once the dal is golden, quickly add the broken, deseeded byadagi or Kashmiri red chilies along with the fenugreek seeds.
6. Mix and keep stirring until the red chilies change color, taking care not to burn them.
7. Immediately put in the chopped tomatoes, curry leaves and asafoetida, and mix thoroughly.
8. Season with salt to taste and give the mixture another stir.
9. Sauté over low to medium-low heat until the tomatoes soften.
10. Stir from time to time. If the tomatoes begin sticking to the pan, sprinkle in some water, stir it through and carry on cooking.
11. The tomatoes need to be fully softened, mushy and well cooked.
12. When the tomatoes are soft, turn off the heat and add the tamarind, making sure it contains no seeds.
13. Mix once more, then allow the mixture to become warm or cool.

Making tomato pachadi

1. Put all the sautéed ingredients into a mixer-grinder jar, adding ¼ to ⅓ cup water, or as much as needed for grinding.
2. Grind the pachadi until its texture is fine and smooth.
3. Move the Tomato Pachadi into a bowl with a spatula or spoon, and serve with any variety of dosa, idli or vada.