Tomato Chutney

1. Heat oil on low heat. Add urad dal and sauté until they start turning maroonish.
2. Add broken dry red chilies, cloves, black peppercorns, and ginger. Stir until the red chilies change color.
3. Add chopped tomatoes and asafoetida. Season with salt.
4. Stir and sauté until the tomatoes soften, about 6 to 7 minutes on a low heat.
5. Cool the tomato mixture.
6. Place tomato mixture in a chutney grinder or small blender. Add 2 tbsp. water and grind to a smooth paste.

Tempering Tomato Chutney

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and toast them.
2. Add curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, asafetida, and broken red chili. Sauté until the curry leaves become crisp.
3. Add the ground tomato mixture and stir well. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes on low heat. Check the taste and add more salt if needed.
4. Stir again. The tomato chutney is done and ready to be served.
5. This tomato chutney pairs extremely well with idli, dosa, uttapam or vada varieties. You can even serve this tomato chutney with pakoras.

Trivia

1. The tomato is America’s fourth most popular fresh-market vegetable behind potatoes, lettuce, and onions.
2. The heaviest tomato on record weighed in at 3.51 kg (7 pounds 12 ounces). A “delicious” variety, it was grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986. Gordon sliced the tomato to make sandwiches for 21 family members.
3. Indonesia uses half the world production of cloves. The cloves are mixed with tobacco to make kretek cigarettes, two parts tobacco to one part cloves.