Instant Andhra Tomato pickle

Andhra food is known for its spicy food. It consists of mouthwatering vegetarian and nonvegetarian dishes. The scrumptious cuisine consists of palatable biryanis, rice, tempting gravies, tangy pickles and heavenly desserts.

As I grew up in Andhra, I love  Andhra cuisine to the core. My mom prepares different varieties of tasty and spicy pickles, which we all like to have along with our daily rice, roti, dosas, idlis and so on. Every time the glass jars are filled with one or two varieties of pickles. If one pickle gets over she is ready with some different variety of pickle. Always the jars are filled with delicious assortments of pickles. Likewise, I have become like her. I love to prepare and also eat pickles. Whenever I get raw mangoes/ amlas/ lemons, I  grab the bag and prepare pickles and store them in different glass jars. Now my daughter is also a big lover of pickles. She loves to eat the pickle along with rice. I won’t make them spicy, as she loves to eat them.

This tomato pickle I am trying for the first time.Traditionally in Andhra, tomato pickle is made by using sun-dried tomatoes. This which I made is an instant pickle, can be stored for about 3- 4 months in a clean and sterilized glass jar. Everyone has their own version of making pickles. This is my version of a delicious, mouthwatering, long lasting, tasty and tangy tomato pickle. Just try this out and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes- 1 kg
2. Tamarind- a lemon size
3. Oil- 1 Cup
4. Mustard seeds- 2 tsp
5. Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
6. Dry Red Chillies- 5 nos
7. Garlic cloves- 1 no
8. Curry Leaves- few
9. Red Chilli Powder- 5 tbsp
10. Turmeric Powder- 2 tsp
11. Salt- as required
12. Asafoetida- a pinch

Method:

1. Wash and roughly chop all the tomatoes, meanwhile heat ½ cup of oil in a nonstick pan and drop all the roughly chopped tomatoes.
2. Stir on a medium flame till all the moisture from the tomatoes is evaporated. This will take almost 20- 25 minutes. In the middle of the stirring, the process adds the lemon sized tamarind and let it boil along with the chopped tomatoes.
3. When all the moisture is evaporated from tomatoes, switch off the flame and let it cool.
4. When tomato and tamarind mixture is completely cooled, grind this to a fine paste using a hand blender.
5. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and grind to a fine powder. Keep this side.
6. Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves, dried red chilies, and garlic cloves.
7. Stir for about a minute or 2. Lower the flame and add the red chili powder, turmeric powder, roasted fenugreek powder and adjust the amount of salt.
8. In the above, add the ground tomatoes and tamarind mixture along with a pinch of asafoetida. Taste and adjust the salt accordingly. Cook the tomato mixture till the oil starts to float on top. Turn off the flame. Let it cool completely and transfer in a clean and sterilized glass jar.