Tomatoes have many healthy properties but are also avoidable by certain people. Any food ingredient naturally has benefits for some and can create problems for others depending on how it is used. An Ayurvedic expert can help to diagnose your constitution to guide your nutrition plan. However, the extraordinary achievement of Ayurveda-based cooking is that all recipes have been planned in a way that enhances the health properties of the ingredients and reduces their harmful tendencies, creating balanced and healthy food that can be eaten by all. The correct use of cooking techniques and spices not only offers good health but also great taste. Those who have tried a well made tomato saar will be inclined to agree!
Preparation time: approx. 40 min
Serves approx. 3-4 people / 1 litre
INGREDIENTS
- Tomatoes – 600gm
- Hot Water – 200ml
- Bay leaves (Tejpatta) – 2pcs
- Black pepper, whole (Miri) – 2pcs
- Cloves, whole (Lavang) – 2pcs
- Cinamon, whole (Dalchini) – 1pc
- Ghee (Clarified Butter) – 20gm
- Cumin seeds (Jeera) – 2gm
- Asafoetida (Hing) – 1.5gm
- Red chillies, whole (red Mirchi) – 2pcs
- Salt – 8gm
- Sugar – 8gm
- Coconut, freshly grated (or ready Coconut milk) – 300gms
- Fresh Coriander/Cilantro leaves (to garnish) – 7gm
PREPARATION
- Put the tomatoes in 200 ml of water in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Add the whole spices like pepper, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves and let it all boil for 15 minutes until the tomatoes are softened.
- Remove the whole spices, then puree the tomatoes and press the puree through a sieve to remove tomato seeds and skin.
- Make coconut milk. Grind the freshly grated coconut, with 150 ml water, so it becomes a paste. Squeeze it through a cloth to separate out the coconut milk. You can once again grind the same coconut with water and squeeze it one more time to extract maximum coconut milk from it. If fresh coconut is not available one can use ready made coconut milk available in tins or tetra packs (300ml).
- Heat the tomato puree and coconut milk together slowly in a pot, and add the salt and sugar. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. The consistency of this mixture should be like soup. It can be as thick or thin as you like. Add coconut milk or water to manage the consistency.
- Heat the ghee in a fodni pan, add jeera, hing and the big red chilli to the ghee. Pour this fodni into the tomato saar. Mix and let it simmer again for 5 minutes.
- Before serving add fresh coriander or parsley. Serve hot with rice, bread or just by itself, like soup.
- As a variation to this recipe, you can use peanut oil and mustard seed for the fodni, instead of ghee and jeera.
This yummy tomato saar is liked by people of all ages and enhances the taste quotient of the whole meal. Let us know how you liked this recipe after you have tried it at home!