February 04, 2015

Tip #76: 10 Delicious Ways To Use Tomatoes in Indian Cooking


Tomatoes contain a good dose of vitamin C, and the cooking process doesn't destroy this important nutrient. Tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, which is an antioxidant. The cooking process brings out more of the lycopene in tomatoes and it also contains other antioxidants, such as beta-carotene. Let us see the different ways of using Tomatoes in cooking from our Smart Samayal Tips….

 See also Bhojana's Tomato Recipes like:

Tomatoes are the best substitute for Tamarind in South Indian cooking. During Tomato season use only half of the tamarind which you take regularly and for the rest of the sourness  add tomato pulp or puree.



To retain good colour in the gravy, always use red and ripened tomatoes. Buy firm ripened tomatoes in bulk. Boil them in water for 15 minutes. After they get cooled, remove the skin. Grind them to juice in mixie. Boil them till they become half in quantity. After they get cooled store in air tight boxes. This can be used even for 2 to 3 weeks . If you spoon them in ice cube trays and freeze them, they can be used for longer period.

 

Don’t waste money in buying Ketch ups or sauce which have preservatives.  
Here is the simple recipe for home made hot and sweet Ketch up:
Pressure cook 10 ripened chopped tomatoes, 3 garlic heads, 1 onion, a tea spoon red chilli powder and 4 tea spoons sugar up to 5 or 6 whistles. After the stuff gets cooled, grind them well in a mixie jar. Add some water and bring them to boil. In a piece of white cloth place some crushed clove and cinnamon and tie it tightly with a knot. Put the bundle into the boiling stuff. Let the aroma and essence of the spices merge well with the boiling stuff. When the pulp thickens and comes to the consistency of sauce take out the bundle. Store it in a bottle and refrigerate.



Fry Onion and Tomatoes after sauteing with fennel seeds and add any boiled vegetable and give a good stir. Add chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder and salt. This stir fry serves a good combination for rice and rotis and for Lunch box.






Take any sprouts one cup and add finely chopped tomatoes and onions to make the sprout salad colour ful and tangy.  Just  sprinkle salt,  pepper and squeeze half lemon to enjoy exotic taste and energy.

 

If you are bored of making coconut chutneys often,  make easy tomato chutney. Tomatoes blend well with Mint leaves, onions and Coriander leaves. Grind tomato with any of them with salt and green chillies and make varieties of chutneys.

Recommended link: Spicy Onion Tomato ChutneyGinger Tomato Chutney




If you have leftover rice that you made in the morning, don’t worry! Just make fantastic tomato rice for the dinner:

Fry chopped onions, tomatoes, garlic heads, ginger, green chillies in 2 tb spoons of oil and a tea spoon of ghee well till the tomatoes become mushy. Then add the left over rice with them and stir well to enjoy a spicy and easy tomato rice. 

Recommended link: Quick Fix Tomato Rice, Spicy Tomato Rice,




Whenever you pressure cook dal for making rasam or sambar, add 2 chopped tomatoes with the dal. This gives appealing colour and taste to the dish.

Recommended link: Onion Tomato Kuruma, Ginger and Tomato Kuzhambu




Cut Tomatoes, Onions and Cucumbers into thin rounds. Place them one on another alternatively. Spread in-between with green mint chutney and  Mayonnaise. Sandwich salad is ready.

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1 Comments
Comments
  1. Thank you very much for the tips.Could you please tell me how to make tomato ketchup without onion and garlic.Thanks in advance.
    Krithiga S
    http://www.srikri.com

    ReplyDelete