Tomato Thokku | Tomato Pickle

Every time we visited Chennai, a bottle of Tomato Thokku from Grand Sweets was a must buy! We just loved the delicious taste of this south Indian pickle specially the one available in Chennai. Be it with rice, Idlies, Dosas or Chapatis, this accompaniment goes well with it all. The only problem with this bought out pickle was the oil content. It was a bit too oily and due to this, our frequency of purchase reduced but the craving did not stop!

Just yesterday as I was browsing through the net for some recipes. I bumped into this beautiful blog with simple to follow recipes and mouth watering foodie pics. The Tomato Thokku recipe in particular, in Rakskitchen tempted me to such an extent that in less than a day I have a bottle full of my favorite pickle ready as the aroma of it still lingers in my kitchen. Tasting almost the same and with much less oil content, I am so delighted to have found this recipe :) 

 Ingredients

Tomatoes - 7 medium sized, ripe 

Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Sambar Powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - a sprinkle

Fenugreek (methi) seeds - 1 tsp

Jaggery - a small piece 

Mustard - 1 tsp

Urid Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs

Sesame (Til/Gingily) Oil - 5 tblspn

Salt - to taste

Method

• Finely chop the tomatoes into small pieces.
• Roast the fenugreek seeds in a little oil until golden brown, remove from stove and allow to cool.
• Once cooled, grind into a fine powder.

• Heat oil in a pan and add urid dal. Once it turns light brown, add mustard, curry leaves and asafoetida.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt.
• Mix well and let it cook for 7-8 minutes on medium flame.

• Now add the jaggery and ground fenugreek seed powder.
• Mix well and allow to cook for another 2 minutes.
• Oil will start to separate out of the mix. Turn off the stove and allow the preparation to cool.

Absolutely yummy tomato thokku/pickle is ready :)

Store in an air tight container and refrigerate. 

Use only a dry spoon while serving. The pickle can be stored up to 10-12 days.