This Tomato Pachadi is a spicy, sour and tangy chutney condiment from the Andhra Cuisine. It is made with tangy tomatoes combined together with flavorful spices and herbs. Pairs well with Idli, Dosa, Adai, Uttapam or Medu Vada.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Condiment, Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Andhra, South Indian

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)

Method

Making tomato mixture

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Keep the heat to a low.
  2. Add mustard seeds and let them begin to crackle.
  3. When they begin to crackle, add urad dal.
  4. Stirring often fry the urad dal on a low heat till they turn golden.
  5. When the urad dal turns golden, then quickly add the byadagi or kashmiri red chilies (broken and seeds removed) and fenugreek seeds.
  6. Mix and stir till the red chilies change color. Take care that they should not burn.
  7. Then immediately add the chopped tomatoes, curry leaves and asafoetida. Mix very well.
  8. Add salt as per taste and mix again.
  9. On a low to medium-low heat sauté this mixture till the tomatoes soften.
  10. Keep on stirring at intervals. In case the tomatoes start sticking to the pan, then sprinkle some water. Stir to mix and continue to cook.
  11. The tomatoes should soften completely and become mushy. They should be cooked well.
  12. Once the tomatoes have softened, switch off the heat. Add tamarind. Keep in mind that there should be no seeds in the tamarind.
  13. Mix again and let this tomato pachadi mixture become warm or get cooled.

Making tomato pachadi

  1. Add all the sautéed ingredients in a mixer-grinder jar. Also add ¼ to ⅓ cup water for grinding or as required.
  2. Grind to a fine and smooth consistency.
  3. Using a spatula or spoon transfer the Tomato Pachadi in a bowl. Serve with any dosa varieties, idli varieties or vada varieties.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.