Tomato Tokku - Tomato relish or pickle

TOMATO TOKKU
A dark night, poor lighting, potholes, a false step, all got her leg in a cast! Chitra Amma was away from the kitchen for few weeks. She’s back in action now and it’s certainly good to get back to blogging – so here is her next recipe! ~ Dibs

My friend’s daughter had a craving for Tomato Tokku. She remembered the tokku which she had tasted long back at her guardian’s place when she was working away from her home. It is a custom to fulfill all the cravings of an expectant mother so that she delivers a healthy happy baby. Tomato tokku is new to me, but any way I decided to give it a try. My friend’s daughter relished the tokku very much and here I am happy to share my recipe with all of you.



INGREDIENTS

Finely chopped tomatoes - 6 (In case you are particular, you can immerse the tomatoes in boiling hot water for few minutes and remove the skin, before chopping them)
Til Oil (Indian Sesame Oil) – 1 ladle (about 6 -8 tablespoons)

Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt – 1½ tsp
Sugar or jaggery - ½ tsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tsp (this gives a nice hot tokku. You can reduce the amount if you want it milder)
Dry roasted and powdered Fenugreek (Methi) seeds - 1tsp


METHOD

1. Heat til oil and add the asafoetida and mustard seeds.

2. When the seeds splutter, add tomato pieces, turmeric powder, salt and sugar.
3. Stir well and cook covered in low flame.
4. When the tomato becomes a pulp, add chilly powder, and cook without the lid.
5. Keep stirring now and then. Cook until the oil separates out from the pulp. This takes about 25 - 30 minutes.
6. Now, dry roast fenugreek seeds on a tava, and grind or pound into a fine powder.
7. Mix the fenugreek powder into the tokku. This step fills the kitchen with a lovely aroma!
8. Tokku is now ready. Store in a clean dry glass bottle.





Properly cooked tokku will stay for many days at room temperature – just like any other Indian pickle. If the oil is insufficient, or any moisture remains, the tokku will get spoiled. If you are unsure about your tokku, you can safely store it in the refrigerator, and use within a week.
This simple and zingy tokku livens up any meal. You can take it with rice and ghee, or along with chapattis, dosai, idli, or along with curd rice.

Comments

I finished the whole of Tokku with curd rice. happy to be back in the blog. appa
Lakshmi said…
We too love tomato thokku..tastes yumm with dose, idli, chapathi :)
Suparna said…
hi
yummm..it could go well with just everything :)
Suparna said…
hi
yummm..it could go well with just everything :)
Priya Suresh said…
I love tomato thokku with curd rice, looks delicious!
Pratima said…
Hello aunty, hope you are feeling better. Missed your blog all these days, its always exciting to see a new story with a receipe posted. Keep it going!
Chitra said…
Missed ur posts these days..thokku looks delish..Will try tonite for dosa:)Thanks!!
Unknown said…
Tomato Tokku ideal combination with Curd rice. First time to your blog. Nice one.
Jayashree said…
Hope Chitra amma is feeling better now. I can eat tomato thokku with pretty much anything. My version of this thokku is posted on my blog.
Usha said…
Tomato thokku is my favorite, looks delicious !
kittymatti said…
wow..looks so perfect..awesome cooking, as usual!
Another favourite of ours. :) Best with curd rice and everything else!
YOSEE said…
Pregnant or not everybody CRAVES for Tomato Thokku !
jayasree said…
Oh, so that is the reason for the silence here. Hope chitra amma is back to her routine. I love this thokku and can eat with anything.
Ivy said…
This sounds wonderful.
Unknown said…
I prepared this tokku today, it turned out great... Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I prepared using canola oil as i did not have sesame oil
i am going to make this tokku sometime during the weekend
vinaypchandra said…
I prepared the tokku and it came out very tasty, though I added extra menthye in the end. Thanks a ton for the recipe. My wife and I always crave for something chatpata to eat with main dish. This also adds as a main dish when we are exhausted.
raji malaysia said…
Hi i am very new to ur blog..immediately tried ur tomato tokku and kothamali thokku..both turned out so well and we had it with idli for dinner..it was really yummy..thank u so much for giving such wonderful recipes..will try ur other recipes too