Tomato Pachadi

Tomato pandu mirchi pachadi is spicy, tangy instant South Indian tomato pickle. It is a quick, and easy tamata pachadi recipe which can be prepared in is a less than an hour. It goes well with rice, roti and most of the South Indian tiffins.

Course Condiment

Cuisine South Indian Cuisine

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Servings

Calories 80kcal

Author Usha Rao

Equipment

1 10" frying Pan or a kadai
1 small frying pan for toasting spices and tadka
1 Spice grinder
1 mixie or wet/dry spice grinder to prepare ginger garlic paste

Ingredients

Spice Mix

½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
½ teaspoons Methi
4 Cardamoms
2 Cloves

Pickle

¼ cup Oil
1 pound Vine Ripe Tomatoes about 4 medium sized tomatoes
1 ½ - 2 tablespoons Salt adjust to taste
2 Limes or small lemons juiced or ½ cup lime Juice

Tadka

¼ cup Oil
Curry Leaves
½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
½ teaspoon Cumin
2 Dry Red Chilies
⅓ cup Fresh Red Chili Paste check notes or the blog post for details.
1 ½ tablespoon Ginger Paste
2 ½ - 3 tablespoon Garlic paste
Turmeric

Instructions

Spice Mixture

In a small pan lightly toast mustard and methi seeds and let cool. Grind the seeds along with cardamom and cloves to a fine powder.

Cook Tomatoes

Wash the tomatoes and cut each tomato to 8 – 10 pieces, depending on the size of the tomato.
In a pan, heat oil and cook the tomatoes without covering for approximately 12 – 15 minutes, on medium - medium high flame. Tomatoes should become soft and the juices should evaporate. You may have to reduce the heat half way into cooking to avoid burning.
When the tomatoes are cooked and the juices have almost evaporated, add the above powder and give a good stir. Cook for another couple of minutes and turn off the heat. Let the tomato mixture cool.

Tadka

Take the remaining oil in another pan and heat it for the tempering.
When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin and dry chili.
When the seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and sauté for a few seconds.
Add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and cook for a minute.
Then add the chili paste and sauté on medium low flame for 3-5 minutes until the paste mixture is cooked.
Turn off the heat, let a mixture cool down for 5-10 minutes.

Pickle

Add prepared tadka to the tomato mixture along with lime juice. Mix everything well.
Taste the pickle, adjust salt and lime juice according to your taste.
Leave it the pan for few hours to cool. Then transfer to a clean, dry glass container. Pickle is ready to consume though leave it for a day or two for the flavors to blend in.
Next day do a taste test and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Leave it for a day or two on the shelf and then refrigerate.
Store it in a clean glass container and always use a dry spoon to serve. This way, the pickle stays fresh for almost a year.
It is a good condiment with yogurt and rice, idli & dosa.

Notes

How to make red chili paste

Wash red chilies or red finger peppers and pat dry. Remove the stack, cut into small pieces and grind the chilies to a fine paste with some salt.
Transfer to a clean, dry glass jar with an airtight lid. Red chili paste I get from India stays good for at least a year in the fridge. I stored red finger peppers up to a month. Never stored it beyond that.
10-12 red finger peppers yields about 1 cup of paste and I grind it with a tablespoon of salt.

Tips

Red Chili Paste - In above recipe, if you are using red finger paste, use ⅔ cup of paste and 2 tablespoons of chili powder. Add chili powder to tomato mixture along with lime juice and tadka. Do not add chili powder in tadka.
Oil - Recipe calls for less oil than usually used. You can use ¾ to 1 cup of oil if you want a thick layer of oil floating on the top. Oil acts like a preservative and gives the pickle a longer shelf life. Since I refrigerate within 3-5 days, I use less oil.
On the first day it might feel there is less oil in the pickle but don’t get tempted to add more. Let the pickle rest for a day. By next you will see a layer of oil floating on top. Then, if you feel the pickle requires more oil, prepare a simple tadka with required oil, cool it and add to pickle. For tadka you can use very few mustard and cumin seeds and pinch of turmeric.
Taste Testing - Taste the pickle again after a few hours or next day and adjust chili, salt and lime. You can always add salt later too but try to adjust the chili and lime within a day or 2 max.
Pickle Not Spicy - If the pickle is not spicy enough, heat some oil, cook the chili paste in it, cool and add to the pickle. You can also add chili powder and you need not add more oil , if the pickle already has enough oil.

Substitutions

Highly recommend using fiery hot red chilies and I prefer the chilies we get in India during winters. But if you do not have it, use red finger peppers paste or chili powder.
You can replace lime juice with tamarind. Cook tamarind along with tomatoes.

Nutrition