It’s the beginning of tomato season. Various sizes and shapes of the red plump fruit are piled high on stands; pieces of cardboard with their price per pound crookedly stuck between or at the side of them. One sets out to buy only a couple of pounds, because, you know, there are still a few left back from last week’s purchase. However, when the vendor weighs the bag of carefully curated tomatoes and tells you the price for the 5-pound heavy bag, you readily hand over the money in exchange as if that is exactly the quantity you wanted to buy.
There are 2 ingredients which when in season I cannot control myself when buying – hot peppers and tomatoes. Not only are they appealing to the eyes and senses but there is so much you can do with them. I also get excited about the tomatoes and peppers because of the variety they come in.
Eating seasonally is a gift of nature. Trees and plants readily give of their fruits and themselves to nourish us. At their peak of freshness and perfection, there is very little cooking to be done; and even when cooked, it is done just enough to concentrate the flavour and yield variations of its taste and texture.
Among the many things I like to do with tomatoes is turn them into a chutney – sometimes pulpy, sometimes creamy smooth; sometimes cooked, sometimes raw; never disguising the star of the dish – the tomato. Today I’m sharing with you 2 versions of a South-Indian-style chutney that are easy to make. These chutneys, I use in a variety of ways:
● with roti – sada and paratha (oil roti)
● smeared on top of thick-cut toasted bread
● tossed with boiled ground provisions
● stirred into dhal
● swirled into homemade hummus
● as a dip with plantain and breadfruit tostones
● tossed with pasta
● folded into hot cooked rice
● as a dip with chips (crisps or fries)
● as sauce base for pizza and flatbreads
Tomato chutney honours the ingredient by keeping things simple. The added ingredients elevate and enhance. Chutneys often appear in small bowls on a table with dishes of grandeur but do not underestimate their ability to brighten and focus your meal. On their own, with only a piece of roti, bread, or a plate of hot plain rice (as I have indicated above), chutneys transform your meal from simple to sumptuous.
Here are 2 versions of the chutney, one cooked and the other, raw.
Tomato Chutney (RAW)
INGREDIENTS
● 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
● 3 tablespoons chana dal or split peas or raw
peanuts, cashew, or chopped almonds
● 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
● 1 teaspoon whole jeera (cumin seeds)
● Chopped hot pepper to taste
● 3 cloves chopped garlic
● Salt to taste
● ½ heaped cup fresh grated coconut
● 2 heaped cups chopped ripe tomatoes
● 2 tablespoons water
● ½ teaspoon sugar
For tadka/chunkay:
● 2 tablespoons oil
● 1 tablespoon chana dal or dried split peas
● ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
● 6 – 8 curry leaves (if you have)
DIRECTIONS
1. Add oil to a pan and place over medium heat. Fry dal or nuts until golden then add spices, pepper and garlic, season with salt to taste. Cook until fragrant and garlic is golden. Stir in coconut, cook for 1 minute only then immediately remove from heat.
Add the tomatoes, sautéed ingredients and sugar to a blender along with 1 – 2 tablespoons of water and puree to your desired consistency. I like it creamy, so I pulse until smooth. Check for seasoning – salt and adjust to taste.
Transfer the chutney to a heatproof bowl.
To chunkay, heat oil and fry the dal/peas until lightly brown; add mustard seeds and when they begin to pop, add the curry leaves and immediately remove from the heat and pour over chutney. Stir to fully incorporate the spiced oil into the chutney. Let sit for 2 – 3 minutes before serving.
Tomato Chutney (COOKED)
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ pounds ripe, firm tomatoes, rinsed, pat dry, and quartered
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Chopped hot pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp, or, to taste (optional, see notes)
4 tablespoons sesame oil (vegetable oil can work)
1 ½ teaspoons mustard seeds
¾ teaspoon whole jeera (cumin seeds)
Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, hot pepper and tamarind pulp, if using, to a jug blender and puree until smooth.
Add oil to a pan and place over medium heat. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds, and as soon as they start to pop, add cumin and cook for 30 seconds.
Pour in tomato mixture and toss to mix with spices and oil and season with salt. Cook until the mixture reduces and changes colour – it will change to a rich, darker, concentrated colour. The chutney is finished cooking when the oil separates/seeps from the mixture at the edges or as bubbles in the middle of the chutney.
Remove from the pan from the heat and transfer the chutney to a bowl to cool to room temperature before serving.
Chutney can be made a couple days ahead of use and be brought to room temperature before using. Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, the chutney can last for 2 weeks.
NOTES
Tomatoes, even when ripe, tend to be tart so you can omit the tamarind pulp if you like. Alternately, you can add a little sugar to the chutney to balance the tartness but not so much that it makes the chutney sweet.
A tablespoon of chopped ginger to the ingredients to be pureed gives additional flavour.
When seasoning with salt, remember that the mixture will concentrate and reduce when cooked so err on the side of caution and taste again when the chutney is done cooking and add more to suit your taste if needed.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
www.tasteslikehome.org
