I don’t like Tomatoes that much. If I’m cooking with tomatoes I make it mushy so that I don’t get a bite of the tomato pieces. A few weeks ago, I was tired to do anything else and had nothing in the fridge, so I decided to make some tomato perugu pachadi. Perugu pachadi is usually made with sorakaya (bottle gourd), potlakaya (snake gourd) or beerakaya (ridge gourd). I usually do sorakaya perugu pachadi, but I did that a few nights before and wanted to experiment how it would taste with tomatoes. It was an instant hit. I followed how I usually make with the bottle gourd and VJ and my sister loved it. They gobbled it up and were sad that I didn’t make a lot to last for the next day. So today, I didn’t know I had tomatoes and I bought some more. We still have the cake leftover from Arlo’s first birthday party. None of us want to eat that over-sweet cake, so it’s been sitting in the fridge and behind the huge cake box are the tomatoes that have stayed hidden for the entire week. Arlo has been extremely naught and wants to play with my spoons and dishes instead of his toys. I find his toys in my kitchen and my spoons in his toy box. This has made it so hard for me to cook, as I have to keep track of him, my spoons and his toys at my feet.

So I decided at the spur of the moment to make tomato raita to go with the Carrot Chapati that I was going to make. I was about to make dal, but instead made raita. Since my baby sister moved out this weekend, I definitely felt the need to load up a bit. She’s the only one who gives me these massive feedbacks. Well at least she used to, now she’s so busy with her ‘stuff’ she barely has time to eat some days. But I love the small reactions that she gives when she eats my food. Arlo is still too small and throws his food from the high chair to the floor. We’ve been having a hard time getting him to eat anything. Arlo has been a picky eater since we started him on solids. These days he wants to eat junk and nothing else. Since a few days he’s been sick and his meal has been a few pieces of mango and a popsicle. Carrot is his favorite, so I thought I’ll give it a try. Though he didn’t eat it and threw most of it on the carpet below, he ate better than the last four days. He even at the raita and didn’t find it spicy. VJ yelled that tomato perugu pachadi is very tasty. So now I had to put up the recipe for such an awesome recipe.

Ingredients

Tomatoes – 2 large (diced small)

Yogurt – Around 500grams (I used about 1 pound of yogurt)

Green chilies – 3 or 4

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Urad dal – 1 tablespoon

Mustard Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida – 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Salt – As needed

Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon

Red Chili Powder – 1 teaspoon

Coriander – For garnish

How to Make

Step 1: Beat the yogurt so that it doesn’t have any lumps in them.

Step 2: In a pan, once heated, add oil and the urad dal. Once the Urad dal changes color, add asafoetida and mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the cumin seeds. Now add the green chilies and then the tomatoes.

Step 3: Add the turmeric and stir it and let the tomatoes cook.

Step 4: Once the tomatoes turn mushy add the salt and red chili powder.

Step 5: Let it cool down for a few minutes and then add it to the yogurt and mix them until the yogurt and the tomatoes are mixed properly.

Step 6: Garnish with coriander and serve it with rice or roti or paratha.

 

Tips:

1. You can replace tomato with sorakaya (lauki or bottle gourd) or potlakaya (snake gourd) or spinach.
2. You can skip the red chili powder and instead use more green chilies.
3. You can skip the coriander used for garnish.

Po