Tomato pachadi | South Indian Tomato chutney
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.
Video
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 :-)