Tomato Niluva Pachadi or Sun Dried Tomato Pickle

I've wanted to prepare tomato pickle for a long time but I kept on postponing it because it is a long process. It depends on the climate, we need good sunshine to dry the tomato slices. Summer season is the best time to make this pickle and even tomatoes are less juicier in the summer. I asked my pinni (aunt) for the recipe of this pickle and followed her instructions.
Let's see how I made this pickle..


                                           

                                                             

                                                               
                                         
                                                     

What you need:

Raw tomatoes-1 kg

Chilly powder-1/2 a cup

Salt-1/2 a cup

Garlic cloves-1/2 a cup

Tamarind pulp-1/4 a cup Turmeric powder-1 tablespoon

Fenugreek seed-1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds-1 tablespoon

For seasoning:

Curry leaves-2 twigs

Red dry chilly-6

Split bengal gram or pachi sanaga pappu-1 tablespoon

Split blaqck gram or minapa pappu-1 tablespoon

Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds-1 teaspoon
Garlic cloves-5

Oil-1 cup or more 

                

Preparation:

1. Wash and wipe the tomatoes with a dry cloth. Cut them into thin slices and soak them in a glass bottle or jar or tupperware container after adding one tablespoon of turmeric powder and 1/4th cup of salt.
2. Soak them over night and the next morning, squeeze the tomato slices and dry them under the sun on a dry cloth. Wash and deseed the tamarind and add it to the tomato juice and dry it under the sun.
3. In the evening, store the tomato slices and juice separately in your kitchen. The next day, dry them again under the hot sun.
4. Do like wise on the third day and now the dried tomato is ready to be pickled. Transfer half of the tomato slices and the juice and tamarind, chilly powder and 1/4 a cup of salt into a mixer jar or wet grinder. Grind it into a paste.
5. Now add the remaining dried tomato slices and garlic cloves and grind it for a few seconds in the mixer. Do not grind into a fine paste. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and allow them to cool down. 
6. Grind them into a fine powder and mix it with the ground paste. Heat the oil in a pan and add split bengal gram, split black gram, broken dry chilly, mustard seeds, garlic cloves, cumin seeds and curry leaves one by one. 
7. Fry them for a minute and add the ground tomato paste to it. Cook it for 1-2 minutes on a low flame. Turn off the stove and once it's cooled down, transfer it into an air tight bottle or jar.

Enjoy the sour and spicy tomato pickle with hot rice and ghee or with dosa or chapathis.

Note: Avoid using wet spoon in the pickle to give it a long life. It can stay preserved for 5-6 months, if you take good care of it. If you add less salt, the pickle may get spoilt. So enough salt should be added. Instead of seasoning the pickle at a time, you can season it little by little whenever you want.

Purple Cabbage Curry

Purple cabbage is a good source of water-soluble vitamin C. From just one cup of raw cabbage, you'll get 67 percent of the vitamin C you need daily. Your immune system needs vitamin C to function well. We can also use purple cabbage in salads and burgers.  
I posted a burger recipe using purple cabbage some time back over here:      http://dailymeals.blogspot.in/2007/09/banana-vada.html
                                     

What you need:

Purple cabbage grated-4 cups

Fresh peas-1 cup
Lime juice-2 tablespoons
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Ginger garlic paste-1 teaspoon
Chilly  powder-1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder-1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves-a few

Salt to taste
Oil-3 tablespoons


                                             

                                                   
                                                                                      
Preparation:

1. Wash and boil the peas and keep them aside. Heat the oil in a nonstick pan or kadai and add the grated or finely chopped cabbage.
2. Stir it and add the lime juice to retain the purple colour of the cabbage. Now add ginger garlic paste mix it well. 
3. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for two minutes on a low flame. Remove the lid and add the boiled peas. Mix it well and add salt, turmeric powder and chilly powder.
4. Add 1/4 cup of water and cook for 3-4 minutes on a low flame by covering it with the lid.
5. Add coriander powder and stir it well. Let it cook for two more minutes and add the chopped coriander leaves.
6. Turn off the stove and transfer it into a serving bowl. Serve with steamed rice and chapathis..

Note: You can add a teaspoon of garam masala before turning of the stove. You can also add chopped onions  and green chilly.