Tomato Saar is a tomato rasam like gravy which is so similar to the south Indian tomato rasam, minus the rasam spice powder in it. Usually eaten with the Maharashtrian Masala Baath, this saar is a part of the traditional Maharashtrian cuisine.
Like I told in my previous post, I made the Tomato Saar and Masala Baath after talking to my friend about comfort food.
It really astonishes me at times on how the simple tomato is used in so many various forms all across India. Whether it is the tomato rasam, the sev tameta nu shaak, Bengali tomato chutney, tomato rice or the tomato gravy based curries, each way of eating tomato is so different and yet there is an underlying similarity in the food. Why look at India, even international cuisines use tomato as their basis in so many dishes. Whether it is the simple tomato basil sauce for the pasta, or the topping for the pizza, or the tomato ketchup or spicy tomato jam or a tomato pickle, each one is so amazing to taste. Toss the tomato in a salad or place them in a sandwich, it tastes different and unique in every dish!
The tomato plant is so easy to grow as well. In fact if you have an overload of tomatoes in the house either from the plant or you find them really cheap, you can either make a simple tomato pasta/pizza sauce and even use it as a topping for cheese and crackers or spread for sandwiches. If you still have more tomatoes with you, then just boil the tomatoes, skin them and then grind them into a puree and store them in the fridge. Put them in the ice tray and freeze them overnight. Then remove the cubes and put them in a ziplock bag, and you have can use them as and when you need.
So many uses of the tomatoes and such a lovely versatile and pretty looking vegetable/fruit is it!
Tomato Saar
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes medium sized
- 1 tbsp peppercorns crushed
- 1 tsp jeera jeera powder
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp tamarind lemon juice juice or 1 tsp
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped for garnishing (optional)
- to taste salt
For the tadka
- 1/2 tsp jeera
- 6 7 curry leaves
Instructions
- Blanch the tomatoes in a big bowl of water, make slight incisions on one side of the tomatoes so it is easier for you to peel them later. Boil till the skin starts cracking up, this will take about 6-8 minutes.
- Remove the tomatoes and dip them in cold water and retain the water in which you boiled it.
- Remove the skin of the tomatoes and puree them well. My house help from Dharward tells me that they just hand mash the tomatoes and that is the best way to make the saar so I follow the same.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the jeeera seeds and fry till they turn slightly brown, add the curry leaves and mashed tomatoes. Fry for another 2 minutes.
- Add salt, jeera powder, tamarind or lemon juice and 2 cups of water.
- Boil for 6-8 minutes till cooked.
Notes
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