Tomato Relish ~ with a South Indian twist
Make this south Indian tomato relish (thokku) for an interesting condiment to breads, rotis, rice etc.!
I can’t write enough about this firecracker of a relish.
Or, I really should say – thokku.
I’m a South Indian and my grandmom would throw a fit if I kept giving English names to traditional recipes! 😛 But then, how do I tell YOU guys how awesome and easy this dish is if you don’t even know WHAT it is….? So this thokku is essentially tomatoes cooked down to a relish like form and flavored with seasonings quintessenial to the South Indian Cuisine. 🙂
TOMATO RELISH RECIPE | South Indian Tomato Thokku
Basic stuff you’ll need –
Heat oil and add mustard. Let it splutter (crucial to get the taste!)
Add urad dal and mix well. Let the dal change to a light red color
Add chopped green chilli, curry leaves and grated ginger and fry for 15 seconds (typical south Indian… yum!!)
Add the finely diced tomatoes.
Mix well and stir fry for about 5 minutes on medium flame. You’ll notice the juice start to come out.
Once the tomatoes have cooked down a little, add the salt, hing, turmeric powder. (you can add other spices you want for a different taste too)
Mix well and continue to cook on medium flame constantly stirring
Keep cooking till the tomatoes are reducing quite a bit. Look for when the oil starts to come out from the sides of the relish.
Add some chilli powder if you want it to be even more spicy! 😉
Continue to cook till it has reached your desired consistency. Ideally, look for when the oil starts to come out of the sides of the tomato relish.
Let it cool completely before storing in air tight container in the fridge. Serve warm or cold with chapati, breads or rice
Tomato Relish ~ South Indian Tomato Thokku
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Ingredients
- 4 medium Tomatoes, diced to fine pieces
- 2 Green chillies (adjust according to spiciness required)
- 1 teaspoon grated Ginger
- 1 teaspoon black Mustard seeds (rai / kadugu)
- 1 teaspoon split Black Gram (Urad Dal)
- a Handful of Curry Leaves, torn roughly
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Salt (adjust to taste)
- 3/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder (*optional: for extra spice)
- 1/2 teaspoon Sugar (*if the relish is too tangy)
Instructions
- Heat oil and add mustard. Let it splutter (crucial to get the taste!)
- Add urad dal and mix well. Let the dal change to a light red color
- Add chopped green chilli, curry leaves and grated ginger and fry for 15 seconds
- Add the finely diced tomatoes. Mix well and stir fry for about 5 minutes on medium flame. You’ll notice the juice start to come out.
- Once the tomatoes have cooked down a little, add the salt, hing, turmeric powder. (you can add other spices you want for a different taste too) Mix well and continue to cook on medium flame constantly stirring
- Add some chilli powder about 1 minute before it is done, if you want it to be even more spicy!
- Continue to cook till it has reached your desired consistency. Ideally, look for when the oil starts to come out of the sides of the tomato relish. If the relish is too tangy, add sugar & mix
- Let it cool completely before storing in air tight container in the fridge. Serve warm or cold with chapati, breads or rice
Note
- Ideally, use a non stick pan so that nothing sticks. If not, you’ll have to use a lot f oil to prevent it.
- Use a smaller pan to cook the tomatoes so that they can cook in their own juices. By using a larger pan, the juices released from tomatoes will evaporate faster and there are more chances of it burning quickly
- To accelerate the process of cooking down the tomatoes, you can cover the pan with a lid and keep on medium low flame. Every now and hen, open and stir. (Drop the water from the lid into the pan itself)
- When adding salt & turmeric, you can add your favorite herbs to make a tomato relish you want.
- Stays well in fridge upto a week. You can warm in the microwave for 20 seconds before serving. But it tastes good cold too.
You should be using a smaller non stick pan with high sides to be making this amazing tomato relish ~ south Indian style! 😉
Some other south Indian condiments you should absolutely try are –
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