Tomatoes cooked in oil with garlic, green chilies, ground fenugreek, salt and red chilli powder until they are soft and mushy and then tempered to make this heavenly tomato pachadi or tomato chutney. Traditionally it is eaten with hot rice and ghee ( clarified butter ), with breakfast foods like, Idli, Dosa, pongal etc, or as a condiment with yogurt rice.
This is a family recipe from my ammamma ( Mom's mom or Grand mom) 🙂. My mom used to make it all the time and when me and my sister started cooking, it became one of our special occasion recipes. There are very few people in so many years who did not ask for the recipe or requested us to make it again, after they tasted this once. I know that's kind of saying a lot for a normal chutney recipe, but there is something addictive about this tomato pachadi. Get ready to eat a lot of steamed rice with it when you make it and don't blame me 😉 for it.
Ingredients
It needs very few every day ingredients that can be easily found in any Indian household or Indian store. All it needs are
- Tomatoes
- Garlic
- Ground fenugreek powder ( methi powder )
- Salt, red chilli powder and oil
- tempering ingredients ( also called popu in Telugu )
How to make this spicy tomato pachadi /chutney ?
This is a little different than many other tomato pachadi /chutney recipes where usually tomatoes are ground with other ingredients after being cooked. This andhra style tomato chutney recipe doesn't require grinding/blending. It is a very simple and easy recipe. The only real work in this is to wait patiently until the tomatoes are cooked to perfection and keep stirring frequently until they are done. Voila !! you will have a wonderful reward ready for your patience !!
First prep the ingredients by peeling the garlic and crushing coarsely or chopping finely, chop the tomatoes and slit the green chillies.
- Now Add oil to the pan over medium low heat, once oil is hot, add garlic, methi powder, green chillies, saute for few secs until aromatic and add tomatoes.
- Add 1 tsp of salt to help the tomatoes release water and cook faster.
- Now until next 20 to 25 mins, keep stirring every few mins and cook on medium high heat ( 6/10 ) until all the water is evaporated from the tomatoes, they are soft and mushy and oil is separating from the mixture.
- Add red chilli powder when almost all the water is evaporated. Check the taste add more salt and red chilli powder if needed. ( Please note that after adding the tempering at the end, it might decrease some of the spiciness, so it is a good idea to add little more red chilli powder than needed.)
- Now take it off the heat and fry the tempering ingredients in oil in a separate pan and add it to the chutney. Mouth watering tomato chutney is ready to served.
What can I serve this with?
Few Ideas to serve this
- It tastes delicious when eaten with steamed rice and ghee ( clarified butter ).
- Can be served with south Indian breakfast dishes like, Dosa, Idli, pongal, vada etc
- Can be eaten as a condiment with yogurt rice, tamarind rice, coconut rice etc.
- Can be lightly spread over bread with mayonnaise for a spicy twist to sandwiches.
These are just few of my ideas for this chutney. I usually pair it with potato stir fry or bhindi (Okra) stir fry to make it a complete meal with rice.
Let me know how do you like to serve this by commenting below and Pin this recipe on Pinterest to your favorite board to save it for later.
Spice level
We like this tomato pachadi recipe spicy. So I add both green chillies and 2.5 to 3.5 tsps red chilli powder. I use the regular hot chilli powder that is commonly used in south India. If you are using kashmiri red chilli powder, please remember that it is slightly milder than the regular hot chilli powder. So use accordingly.
- If you want to reduce the spice, then skip the green chillies and start with 1.5 tsp of red chilli powder and add more as per your taste.
- If you want to increase , then you can add as much red chilli powder as you want and also increase the amount of red chillies in the tempering.
Please note that after adding the tempering at the end, it might decrease some of the spiciness, so it is a good idea to add little more red chilli powder than needed.
Scaling
As this is a condiment recipe, this is usually served along with other dishes, so 8 servings are suggested based on that assumption. You can definitely scale this tomato chutney recipe up or down. Just adjust the ingredients and cooking times accordingly. You can use the 1x, 2x or 3x buttons on the recipe card to scale it up.
Making in advance and storage instructions
This is a perfect recipe to make 1 or 2 days ahead and keep ready if you want to make it for an event. Although in my experience, storing in the refrigerator always made it less spicy and little less flavorful. So that is the reason I add little more oil (the same amount mentioned in the recipe card ) than my usual so I can store it on the counter in an air tight container for 2 to 3 days. It might stay longer, you can always try and see. In our home it never lasted that long to test 😊.
Watch video how to make andhra style tomato pachadi recipe
Recipe
Tomato pachadi | South Indian Tomato chutney
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Tomatoes are cooked in oil along with garlic, green chilies, ground fenugreek, salt and red chilli powder to make this lip smacking tomato chutney. If you are a fan of South Indian chutneys, then you will fall in love with this for sure.
Ingredients
3 tbsp oil ( I used canola oil, don't use strong flavored oils like olive oil )
8 medium size tomatoes
3 green chilies
10 big cloves garlic crushed roughly or finely chopped
½ tsp ground fenugreek ( fenugreek powder also called methi powder )
red chilli powder to taste ( I used 2.5 to 3 tsps)
salt to taste ( start with 1 tsp and then add more later after checking taste )
Tempering ingredients
1 tbsp oil
2 red chilies stems removed and broken into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp split urad dal
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp hing ( asafoetida )
1 sprig curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat the pan and add 2.5 tbsp oil over medium low heat
- When the oil is hot, add garlic and saute for around 5 secs, then add ½ tsp ground fenugreek powder ( methi powder ) and 3 slit green chillies and saute for few more secs until the garlic gives nice aroma but make sure not to burn them.
- Now add 8 tomatoes chopped into pieces and stir well to combine. Increase the heat to medium high ( 6/10).
- Add 1 tsp of salt to start with and mix well. Now our goal is to cook down the tomatoes until all the water is evaporated, tomatoes are soft and mushy and oil is separating from the tomato mixture.
- So keep stirring every few mins for another 20 25 mins until that happens. Cook uncovered.
- When most of the water from the tomatoes is evaporated and they are forming a nice soft mushy mixture, reduce the heat to medium low and add red chilli powder, 1.5 to 2 tsp to start with or as per your taste.
- Mix well and check the taste after a minute. Add more salt and red chilli powder as needed.
- When the oil is separating from the tomato mixture, that means our delicious tomato pachadi ready to be tempered. Remove the pan and set aside.
- Take a tempering pan and heat it over medium heat( small round fry pan ), add 1 tbsp oil, when the oil is hot, add all the tempering ingredients given in the above list one by one and fry until they sizzle and turn slightly golden brown.
- Now add the tempering to the tomato pachadi/ chutney and mix well. Spicy tomato chutney is ready to be served.
Notes
- Please note that after adding the tempering with oil at the end, it might reduce some of the spiciness, so it is a good idea to add little more red chilli powder than needed .
- Don't skimp on garlic in this recipe, combined flavors of garlic, methi powder and tomatoes is what gives this chutney that wonderful unique flavor.
- Storing it in refrigerator might also make this less spicy and little less flavorful by next day, So I usually store it on counter top in air tight box for 2 to 3 days. The amount of oil we use helps in keeping it fresh.
- Try to use perfectly ripened tomatoes, not too hard, not too soft.
- Use ½ tsp to 1 tsp of sugar if needed only when the tomatoes are too sour.
- Do not skip the tempering, It's like eating mac and cheese without cheese 🙂
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dips/sides/chutneys/pickles
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
Don't forget to comment below to let me know how do you like it and make sure to pin it to your favourite board on pinterest to save it for later. You might find it handy when you are in a hurry to find recipes for a festival thali or just a weekend lunch.
Are you a spice lover like me, check out my Garlic pepper mushroom masala, am sure you will love it.
Ramya says
Hey Yamini, I tried the tomato pachadi recipe and it was very very tasty. Children too loved it. Thanks for sharing, next time I wish to share a pic too:)
★★★★★
Yamini says
Thank you Ramya !! am glad you liked it.