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.