Fried Green Tomatoes

I've heard so much about fried green tomatoes, but have never eaten them. Well, now I have. I didn't love it, it was a little too sour for me and the kids. We made a bhajji (vegetables fried in a thin batter) out of it. I did use the green tomatoes to make other stuff, like sambar, and loved that. But, no, the fried green tomatoes were not for me!

Fried Green Tomatoes

5-6 Green Tomatoes, cut into discs
Oil, for deep frying

Batter
1 cup Gram Flour
1/2 cup Rice Flour
A pinch of Asafoetida
A pinch of Salt
A pinch of Red Chilli Powder
Water, enough to make a batter.

First heat the oil in a deep pan. Make a batter with all the batter ingredients.

Dip the tomato slices in the batter until thinly coated. Slowly lower a few at a time into the hot oil. Flip after a minute, and fry until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat until you've fried all the tomatoes.

Serve hot with ketchup or a spicy chutney.

(Shown here with Kale chips. The little brown discs are the green tomato bhajjis)

Tomato Pasta

I love pasta. Any shape or form. My favorite kind of pasta is without sauce and tossed with pepperoncino, garlic and a little drizzle of olive oil. I'm not huge on heavy sauces and particularly tend to stay away from the cheesy white sauces.

This is a recipe I bookmarked ages ago from Lolo, and finally got to use it. Finally I found a pasta sauce that I love and it's super easy too. And the pasta isn't drowned in the sauce, it only adds to the flavor.

I made the pasta at home with 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose flour, using my recipe.


Tomato Pasta
(original recipe at Vegan YumYum - I made a couple of changes)

1 Large Tomato, cored and chopped
1/4 cup Raw Pine nuts
1 tbsp Pureed Tomato
1/4 cup Water
1 tbsp Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic, minced
5-6 ounces Pasta (I made a fettuccine-ish shaped pasta)
2-3 tbsp Water

For Garnish: Fresh Ground Pepper, Basil Leaves (torn)

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook until al dente, strain and set aside.

Blend the chopped tomato, tomato puree, pine nuts and water (the 1/4 cup) in the blender. Blend well until you get a smooth sauce.

Heat a pan with some olive oil. Add the garlic and saute until slightly browned. Add the mixture from the blender and saute until the raw smell of the tomato is gone (about 3-4 minutes). Add the 2-3 tbsp of water, if necessary, to thin out the sauce.

Add the cooked pasta to the saute pan and toss to coat. Remove from heat. Garnish with fresh black pepper and basil leaves.

This is one of the best pasta sauces I've ever had. It was creamy and delicious. And look at that gorgeous color! Thanks, Lolo!

Now check out what wondrous stuff my fellow marathoners have cooked up in their kitchens:

DK, Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya, Lakshmi, Raaga, Lakshmi, Sripriya and Viji.

Tomato Yogurt Curry

This more kozhambu or yogurt curry is a crowd pleaser. The rich color gets lots of compliments as does the delicate flavors. More means buttermilk in Tamil, and Kozhambu is a kind of watery curry. Its usually served with rice, or idiyappam, or sevai (a thin rice noodle).


Tomato More Kozhambu

6 Tomatoes, diced
3 cups Yogurt, beaten to a smooth consistency with 1 tbsp water
1/4 cup grated Coconut
6 Green Chillies, slit
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 pinch Turmeric powder

Tempering:
1 pinch Mustard seeds
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2-3 Curry Leaves

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add the chopped tomatoes. Toss for a minute and then add the green chillies, cumin, turmeric and coconut. Let it cook together for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and let it cool slightly until cool enough to pour into your blender. Grind until smooth. Add the yogurt and pulse again until combined.

Transfer the mixture back onto the stove and heat on low until the mixture is warmed.

Tempering: Heat a pan with a little bit of oil. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to splutter, add the rest of the ingredients for the tempering and stir for about a minute or two. Pour the tempering into the yogurt curry and stir to mix.


Remove from heat. Serve warm.

Tomato Dosa

The color and the sweet taste of the tomato make this one beautiful dosa. Kids love them!

Tomato Dosa

1 1/4 cup Raw Rice
2 tbsp Toor Dal
2 Tomatoes
2-3 Red Chillies
1-2 tbsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
Salt, to taste

Soak the rice, toor dal and the red chillies for 3 hours.

Grind all the ingredients with water to a pouring consistency.


Heat a little oil (about a teaspoon) on a crepe pan/ flat saute pan. Pour the ground mixture and spread like you would a dosa/ crepe.


Flip over until both sides are cooked through.

Serve with a chutney or just eat it plain! :)


This is off to Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook for the Pancakes on Parade event. I'm sure the round-up is going to have some amazing ideas! Thanks, Susan.

I'm also sending this to Srivalli as a very late addition to her Dosa Mela.

I want to thank DK and Siri for organizing the Recipe Marathon. It has really changed my outlook on blogging. I also managed to meet a bunch of really cool people! And I got an award too:


Thanks DK for a gorgeous award.

Mysore Rasam

Rasam, I find, is one of those things that you can't cook by recipe alone. There has to be a feel for the dish, an innate sense of what and how much goes in. I've always been a cook of proportions, preferring to follow recipes, and so, my rasams were never fabulous (or ever measured up to what I had growing up).



A friend gave me a cookbook when I left for the US to study, and said "read it when you are feeling homesick". I didn't take it out for almost 3 months and then one day, I desperately wanted rasam. I tried this book and it was the best I've ever had.

Rasam is a thin, slightly spicy soup with a lentil base. It is delicious mixed with rice, but tastes as good just as a drink.



Mysore Rasam (adapted from Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan)

1/2 cup red gram dal or masoor dal
3-4 small tomatoes, quartered
3 tsp Mysore Rasam Powder (recipe follows)
2 tbsp jaggery, powdered (I use sugar and it tastes as good)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 small bunch coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp juice of tamarind
salt to taste

For tempering:
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 red chilli, halved
1/2 tsp asafetida powder
a few curry leaves

Procedure:

Heat the oil and add the tempering ingredients. When the mustard starts to splutter, add the tomatoes, jaggery/sugar, tamarind extract, mysore rasam powder, salt and turmeric.
Keep on a low flame and let it simmer until the raw tamarind smell disappears. Add the cooked dal and let it simmer for another 5 or so minutes. Add the coconut milk, coriander and remove from heat.


Mysore Rasam Powder

2 cups dhania or coriander seeds
1/4 cup peppercorns
1/4 cup cumin seeds
4 tsp fenugreek leaves
1 bunch curry leaves
2 cups red chillies
3 tsp oil
2 tsp turmeric powder

Roast the coriander seeds, peppercorns, cumin, fenugreek and curry leaves on a dry pan.
In another pan, fry the red chillies in the oil.
Combine all the ingredients and grind to a fine powder.

Tomato Curry

This curry goes great with just about everything! Seriously, I have it with idlis and dosas, spread on toast and bagels, mixed with rice...just about everything. And its really easy to whip up as well.



1 onion
1 tomato
1 clove garlic
A pinch of turmeric
A pinch of chili powder
2 tbsp coconut
1 tbsp saunf
Coriander leaves, for garnish

Stir fry the onion, tomato and garlic in a little bit of oil. Add the turmeric and chili powder and saute till it becomes slightly thick. Grind together coconut and saunf. Add the ground mixture to the curry together with salt. Let it heat together for about 2 minutes. Remove from stove and sprinkle with coriander leaves.