The tomato thokku or the pickle is the easiest pickle that could be made at home. As far as i have read and heard, no two women use the same mode of preparation of this thokku. I learnt this from my mom. I altered a few steps here and there to my convenience. My sister does it altogether differently with chat masala and more. My cousin, a die hard Hyderabadi does it by sun drying the tomatoes for a week.
After i extracted the puree yesterday, they got converted into this irresistible thokku. A great spread on quick spice sandwiches or for roti/puri/pita with raita, side dish for kichdies and obviously tastes best with the world's best satvik food - thayir sadam aka the curd rice.
Ingredients to make 400gm of thokku,
20 large tomatoes
20 small dry red chillies/ 15 if long
5 tsp fenugreek seeds powder
3 tsp mustard seeds
5 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2-3 pinches asafoetida
5 cloves garlic finely chopped (optional)
1 in ginger finely chopped (optional)
10 tsp cooking oil
Wash and clean the tomatoes in running water. Extract the tomato puree like this. Or alternatively, this is what my mom does - boil a pot of water, turn off flame and leave the tomatoes in the hot water for 10 mins. Remove them from water and peel their skin off. Now grind the skinless tomatoes into a fine paste. Few folks do not bother about the skin and would quickly grind tomatoes in to a paste soon after they wash it. Few skip the grinding part and would toss the tomatoes just by slicing them into 4-5 pieces each. Like i said earlier, no two women seem to follow the same method :-).
Heat 5 tsp of oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds, let it splutter. Add the dry fenugreek seeds powder and toss them for a couple of seconds. Add the asafoetida and the dry red chillies and toss until the chillies turn from red to shiny brown. Now pour in the tomato puree and allow it to boil. This is a messy fluid that would paint your kitchen red. So bring the heat/flame to low to avoid that extra work of extra rubbing/cleaning of the counters. The puree from 20 tomatoes nearly took 2 hours on low flame to get reduced to the desired consistency i.e 1/4th of its original quantity. Occasionally keep stirring the mix. In between you could get a whole lot of chores done from laundry to clothes pressing to other dinner preparations or even a quick 30 min aerobics work out. Somewhere when it thickness to 1/2 the original quantity, add the salt and all the spice powder and 2 tsp of oil and stir.
When it comes closer to 1/4th, stay close, add the remaining oil and stir frequently. By now the color would have become closer to maroon and the consistency is more or less a thick shiny paste. Serve hot/warm if your meal is ready. Or allow to cool and store/refrigerate in glass or porcelain or plastic container avoid using stainless steel for pickles or for any dish that has high chilly+salt quotient.
Optional : At the end, fry the finely chopped garlic and ginger pieces to golden brown in oil and add to the thick paste/thokku and mix well.
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