Tomato Juice - Bidding adieu to comfort zones and embracing changing seasons

This day was inevitable and I saw it coming for quite some time now. Despite all the preparations - both physical & emotional, it was a very nervous moment. We stood by silently watching her pack her bag, check the wallet for the insurance proof and the newly acquired driver's license, as she turned around, gave a hug each and said before I could open my mouth, "I will call as soon as I reach there, Amma", that seemed to surge a flood of emotions inside. I stood there at the front door, anxious but trying not to show it to the little girl as she picked up the keys and confidently strode over to the driver's seat. We watched until the car turned the street corner and went back to purposefully cleaning the living room until the phone rang and we heard the dear voice say, "I am here, will call you later". The cleaning went a little bit more briskly after that and the air didn't seem to hang so heavily around us.

It was not a long drive, less than 15 minutes from home, she knew the roads well as we take those every week. The only difference was that she got her own license last week and drove there all by herself for the first time. A big deal for us parents and many a anxious waits until she calls in. The little girl is not a toddler anymore but a confident teenager rearing to explore the world and also do things on her own. Wish I could hold on for just a little longer for those years when I had to lower my eyes to talk to the tiny girl hopping along with me every where I went, the little girl that used to sing in the back seat while fishing up snacks from her bowl as we drove back home or the tired one that dozed off in front seat on the way home from a long drive or the chatter box that never stopped talking excitedly about her day at school or a camp she attended or the dorky one that would be thinking about some homework due the next day. Every change indicates she is growing up into her own person and not dependent on us any longer, it is how it should be and I feel happy that she has the conviction  to take on her challenges and learn along the way, yet at the same time, I feel that this inevitable change is coming too soon. Letting go is never easy especially when you love someone so dearly. I think about my parents as they saw us pass through these different phases and makes me appreciate and understand them a little bit more. It is a strange period in my life as I look back to see my parents' generation slowing down, sun setting and look forward to see a bright horizon with opportunities for my kids' generation, bitter and sweet at the same time.

Sunday is officially the beginning of Autumn, while bidding adieu to a bright and beautiful Summer, I want to embrace the Autumn and its colors with equal gratefulness and poise. Summer was glorious contrary to what many predicted but then who says Autum is not going to be good? I am looking forward to sweaters, long walks on the crinkly crisp fallen leaves and multitudes of hues all around. After all, it is nature's way of growing and growing up, right?

My tomato vines are still going strong and I picked another bushel of bright red, ripe tomatoes yesterday and made a simple, flavor packed juice to celebrate and say 'so long' to Summer. There is no recipe here, but I give you a few lines of 'how to's in case you want to see it. Also, I caught some really nice pics that totally captures the soul of this simple juice. Here is to changing seasons, growth and change in general.

What do you need to make Tomato juice?
Makes 3 servings
3 ripe, juicy medium sized tomatoes
1 Tsp lemon/lime juice
3 Tsp sugar (adjust to taste)
5-6 mint leaves

How do you make Tomato juice?

• Wash, pat dry and chop tomatoes.

• Take all ingredients to blender except water and make a smooth puree.
• Sieve the puree through a fine sieve to catch seeds and tomato skin.

• Taste & adjust to your liking. Add water for desired consistency.
• Chill and serve :-)

Tomato Tokku - when it rained tomatoes in the Northwest :-)

I haven't done a garden update here on the blog in quite some time, while we got a squash a day harvest for a while, the surprise of the season has been Tomatoes. Yes, these are big, juicy and incredibly tasty tomatoes and have made me turn my back permanently on the waxy, store bought excuses. I am worried about the soon to be here winter months when my garden will hibernate:-(. But until then, I am cooking up all sorts of Tomato deliciousness in my kitchen. 

It all started with 4 small saplings we planted in the middle of Spring, sun shine was abundant this summer (not sure where the gray, cloudy weather rumor spreads its wings:-)) and my tomato plants grew big and tall like the bean stalk in (well, what else but..) Jack and the bean stalk. I saw the plants bending and flexing on the ground with its own weight before BH & I could scurry around to build a support structure for them. We lifted them gently, placed them inside the support structures when we noticed small, yellow blooms which heralded the possibility of tomatoes some time in the future. So, we waited patiently and then forgot about them for a while with the Arangetram excitement and when we did remember to go back to the back yard and look, the plants were lugging huge tomatoes, some turning red but mostly green :-). I did and still have been making a whole lot of green tomato recipes (believe me they are all yummy and will be showcased here on the blog soon) and then started picking the red ones. I am not exaggerating when I say it really is raining tomatoes in my back yard and all of them looking so deliciously juicy and flavorful. 

We are a family of 'saaru' lovers, saaru is a staple in my home and is comparable to 'Rasam', it is either sipped as a appetizer or mixed with rice and enjoyed. There are many different kinds of saaru but then, this post is not about the 'saaru', right? It will suffice to say, I made many, many saaru with the freshly harvested ripe tomatoes before my saaru crazy family was deploring me to put the ripe tomatoes in another recipe :-). So, best way to use pounds of ripe tomatoes? Make this wonderful tasting tokku that has multiple uses. It will make you 'tomato happy' for life :-).

Tokku is a common word used to describe a pachadi or chutney in Kannada, the difference being Tokkus almost always stay fresh for long while regular chutneys are for quick consumption. This makes Tokkus preferred accompaniments during travel. In addition to topping the usual suspects such as bread, roti, idli, dosa or crackers with Tokku, Nammamma also mixed spoon fulls of tokku (usually mango tokku) with cooked rice, seasoned it with asafoetida, mustard, chana dal and peanuts to make a quick, ready to eat or lunch box friendly rice variety. Try it and you will be hooked. 

Tokku does not call for many or even exotic ingredients, one thing that helps is to make sure the star ingredient is fresh and tasty. Whether you are making mango tokku or tomato tokku, make sure you have good mangoes or tomatoes. The rest of the procedure is very simple but needs time and patience. After tokku is done, handling it is very similar to that of pickles - make sure you store it in a dry, airtight container, use only dry spoons to serve for the longevity of the tokku. 

What do you need to make Tomato Tokku? 

1 lb fresh, juicy tomatoes

2-2.5 Tblsp red chili powder (adjust based on spice tolerance)

1 Tblsp salt (adjust to taste)

1.5 Tsp fenugreek seeds

1/4 Tsp Asafoetida powder

1/2 cup oil

1 Tsp mustard

10-12 curry leaves

1-2 dry red chilies (optional)

1/2 Tsp crushed jaggery

How do you make Tomato Tokku? 

• Wash, wipe and cut tomatoes in half. 
• Remove the stalk end part and chop into small pieces. 
• Heat oil in a heavy bottom, big pan (big enough to hold all tomatoes and let you stir them around easily).
• Add mustard seeds and dry red chilies, let mustard pop. Add asafoetida and curry leaves, toast for 15 seconds before adding chopped tomatoes in. 

• Mix it in, add salt and red chili powder. Let the tomatoes cook on medium flame stirring occasionally so it doesn't get burnt at the bottom. 
• In the mean time, dry roast fenugreek seeds on low to medium heat stirring frequently (about 5-7 minutes) until they turn a deep brown without burning the seeds, let cool and powder in a spice grinder. 
• Tomatoes first break up and then turn mushy and most of the juice evaporates eventually, keep an eye on them and let them cook until oil starts to ooze from the sides of the vessel - takes about 2-2.5 hours depending on how juicy your tomatoes were to start with and the volume reduces by a third. 

• Add the powdered fenugreek and jaggery, reduce heat and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes. 
• Switch off, let it cool completely before storing in dry, air tight containers. This tokku stays fresh for months if you make sure you keep it in a cool, dry place and also do not use any wet spoons or hands to serve. 

Notes: 

• The tiny bot of jaggery helps bring out the tastes well, my recommendation is not to skip this ingredient. 
• There is no baby sitting involved to make this tokku, though it takes time, you can set the timer to 15-20 minutes between stirrings and continue doing whatever else you need to be doing. 
• Chopping tomatoes small will speed up the process. 

• I do not peel the tomatoes for tokku as we like the texture it imparts, if you like grind and sieve tomatoes before you drop them in the seasoned oil. 
• Tokku tastes best after some settling time as the tastes get time to mingle, let it cool down and stay put for half a day before you start to liberally use it as a spread or dip. 

Tomato-mint chutney - A spicy relish

Chutney's are like a beautiful piece of jewelry or a pretty dress, they are decorations, embellishments to enhance a meal. Growing up, my chutney experience was limited but married into a Telugu family where chutneys or pachadis as they are called is a norm at every meal, I have broadened my horizon with chutneys. A traditional Andhra home meal is not complete without a chutney/pachadi. Some day, I will blog about thalis at home when I can get to such a well prepared fare :-) but until then it will be in bits and pieces.

Chutneys are two types - one you mix with rice which is slightly dry and spicy and the other you use as a dip or side dish with dose, idli, roti etc which is slightly runny in consistency. We had a stone grinder at home in Mysore and it was my favorite kitchen work to make chutneys in it, the fringe benefit was that I could keep tasting the chutney as I ground the ingredients. But the tasting was only allowed with nammamma's permission and was completely taboo on certain days:-), so I had to be sneaky. The best part of the chutney grinding in a stone grinder was if the rice was ready, amma would give me a couple spoons of rice to put into the grinder, scrape the chutney off, mix it with rice and take it onto a plate to slowly enjoy the fresh, spicy chutney anna(rice), Ah... that is a visit to heaven right there.

Today's chutney is an evolved recipe and is mainly an accompaniment to dose or idli. We love mint flavor at home and I make the popular pudina/mint chutney very often with coconut. I wanted to try something without coconut and also recreate a tomato chutney I had had at a restaurant. Resulting chutney is delicious, spicy and goes well with a variety of dishes. This has now become a family favorite.

What do you need to make tomato-mint chutney? 
3 medium sized tomatoes (use fleshy variety of tomato) chopped roughly
1 cup packed picked mint leaves
1 Tblsp chopped onions
Small piece of tamarind or 1/2 Tsp tamarind paste (see notes)
1 Tsp chana dal/kadle bele
3-4 black pepper corns
2-3 green chilies - slit lengthwise
1/2 Tsp crushed jaggery/brown sugar
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp cooking oil

How do you make tomato-mint chutney?

• Heat oil in a pan, add chana dal, pepper corns and green chilies. Fry for a minute until chana dal roasts and turns light pink. 
• Add chopped onions and fry for a minute until it turns pink.

• Add the mint leaves and give it a stir.

• Add the chopped tomatoes and continue to fry until tomatoes turn mushy and the leaves wilt completely - additional 3-5 minutes depending on the heat. 

• Switch off the stove, add salt, jaggery and let the mixture cool completely. 
• Take everything to your grinder/mixer and blend it to a smooth mixture. You will not need any water for this as tomato blends well. This chutney does not have a bright red color as tomato mixes with green mint.

• Enjoy the spicy chutney with a hint of sweetness and loaded with mint flavor. We had ours with the water melon rind dose. 

Notes: 

• Wait for the mixture to cool completely, if you grind when hot or warm, the taste changes. 
• Adjust the chilies and black pepper to your taste, I like it more peppery than the chili heat. I added a piece of dry red chilies also this time.
• You do not need tamarind if the tomatoes are sour, so adjust accordingly. 
• Whenever using green chilies in frying, make sure you have cut it open (a slit or a chop), else you will have them popping over the place.  

Tomato Pachadi - Yogurt based side dish

This weekend, weather was beautiful and we started our small summer garden. BH was very motivated by the Sun shining in the sky and started the yard work. We have a few small plants that are starting and some seeds that need to sprout. Taught Flora her boundaries so she won't jump over the seedlings. She was happy to be out too and the whole time was jumping, licking our faces and trying to smell every single tool and seed packet we had, she is one curious dog.

Two summers before, we had a bounty of vegetables including tomatoes which I had to freeze in bags after distributing to friends. I didn't buy any until the next February or so. Then last summer, we planted a toned down summer garden as we were getting ready to relocate and asked friends to tend to the plants and pick the vegetables until end of Summer after we left. It is already another year and we are looking forward to growing our backyard veggies once again in the new place. Due to the unfamiliar weather pattern and soil, we decided to take it slowly.

While I am waiting for my own harvest of vegetables, I brought home a whole bunch of fresh looking, non waxy tomatoes the other day. I love tomatoes for their versatility, there is so much you can do with a good tomato. Chose to do a very simple pachadi - a yogurt based side dish that is both slightly sweet and spicy. It goes very well with rice or rotis or idli/dose. It is a very good addition to meals for the Summer months. Though it is called pachadi, it doesn't require any grinding/blending of ingredients, this one comes from Amma's kitchen.

What do you need for Tomato pachadi?
3 firm, ripe tomatoes
1 Tblsp chopped onions
1 cup fresh yogurt
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp coriander powder
1 Tsp cooking oil
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1 Tsp cumin seeds
1 red chili broken into 2
2-3 twigs of fresh cilantro chopped fine
1/2 Tsp crushed jaggery or brown sugar

How do you make Tomato pachadi? 

• Chop tomatoes into bite size pieces
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and cumin seeds, let them crackle.
• Add the red chili pieces followed by chopped onion.
• When onion turns slightly pink and soft, add tomatoes, salt, jaggery/brown sugar, cover and cook for 5 minutes

• When tomatoes turn soft and mushy, add the coriander powder, fry for a minute and switch off.

• Let it cool completely before adding smoothly whisked yogurt and chopped cilantro.

• Tomato pachadi is ready to be served with your meal. 

Variation: 

• You can add 1/2 Tsp red chili powder for spice.
• Skip jaggery/brown sugar if you do not like it. 

Tips: 

• Use fresh yogurt that has not turned sour.

Tomato Rice - Reminiscing the hostel life and an old companion

Until I got married, I was pretty much bound to the same city I was born and grew up in. I had not moved out of Mysore until I graduated. It is a good thing, life was undisturbed and I got the opportunity to make and keep friends for a long time but at the same time I missed going away from home, staying in a hostel and just the basic movement. Infact, I was hoping not to get my first choice of college (which happened to be in Mysore) when I got the Engineering admission :-), but destiny willed it differently. I went to a college less than 20 minutes drive from home on my 2-wheeler. Looking back, I am glad I stayed put during those years and got to enjoy a little more of home as I have done a lot of moving and relocating since graduating and getting married.

So, my hostel experience is very limited and I spent about an year at one of the premier institutions in Bengaluru and stayed in a PG hostel. I was excited and terrified the first week. For all the anticipation of staying on my own, the new surroundings were very intimidating especially when you were surrounded by complete geeks working on their doctoral and post doctoral research. But what made it all easy and interesting was the work, my lab mates, Prof and the girls I befriended during my stay in the hostel.

There were 4 different food mess (:-) es on the campus and one of them catered pure vegetarian and yours truly signed up there. The first couple of weeks when I didn't know anyone (the only other girl who worked with me in the lab used to commute from home), I would be the first one at the mess in the morning, grab a quick breakfast (3 days in a week it was bread toast which made it easy for me to carry it on my walk to the lab) and come back as late as possible for dinner on my way back to the room. It was a set menu for each day of the week and one dinner that I really looked forward to was on Thursday nights - a Tomato rice with a watery peanut chutney and potato chips. There was something very soothing (other than the fact I was close to the weekend and a possible Mysore trip) about that meal and I always relate A-mess and tomato rice as synonyms.

Coming to the old companion part in the title - it is an old cook book I have had ever since I got married. We were a group of young people, guys and gals, very loud and enthusiastic, all starting on the journey of our careers, working long hours and having a gala time. A couple of us were recently married and used to exchange notes on our weekend cooking experiments and our respective mom and mom-in-laws cooking expertise. During this time, I chanced upon a cookery book by Vasantha Moorthy called 'The Vegetarian Menu book'. The reason I like this book is because she actually classifies different dishes and groups them by meals just for two, family of 4 and others which was extremely helpful for a novice like me as I had just started out in my own kitchen. I made my first Tomato rice from this book but went on to adapt and change as I felt confident about my cooking. I still have the book intact with me after all the moves we have done and the pages of the book also hold many a paper cuttings and recipe print outs.

Here is a recipe for Tomato rice - magic recreated from a Thursday night dinner at IISc and guided by Vasantha Murthy. It is mildly spicy and very fragrant and makes a good main rice item just for two or a party of people.

What do you need to make Tomato Rice? 
1.5 cups rice - I use sona masoori
4 medium sized ripe tomatoes - preferably juicy variety
1 medium onion - I used red onion
1 clove garlic - optional
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
4-5 black pepper corns
3 green chilies (adjust to taste)
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen green peas
handful of fresh cilantro
3 cups of water (adjust based on your rice)
1.5 Tblsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tblsp cooking oil
1 Tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf/Tej patta/pulav patta

How do you make Tomato Rice? 

• Chop a quarter of the onion into big chunks and keep aside. 
• Chop the remaining onion into thin long strips.
• Wash and chop tomatoes into big chunks. 
• Dry roast cinnamon, cloves and pepper on medium heat until you get the roasted aroma - 2 to 3 minutes
• Take the roasted ingredients, garlic and green chilies into a mixer and pulse it a couple of times to break the contents down. 
• Add the big chunks of onion, garlic, cilantro and chopped tomato to the mixer and blend into to get a smooth juice. 
• You can add water to aid the blending process but make sure you do not exceed the water specified above to get a nice, fluffy end product. 
• Heat the oil in a wide pan and roast the cumin seeds.
• When the seeds sizzle, add onion and tej patta and fry till onions are well roasted and crispy, keep aside. 
• You can cook the rice in your rice cooker or pressure cooker or an open vessel. I prefer the rice cooker method for this dish as I don't have to control the time it cooks in a pressure cooker or baby-sit the rice in an open vessel.
• Wash rice with 2 changes of water, drain the water, pour it into the container you will cook it in. 
• Add the ground tomato juice, salt, green peas, half of the crispy onions, remaining water to the vessel and cook until rice is done. 
• Mix before serving and top it with the remaining crispy onions and a side of sweet and spicy peanut chutney and potato chips. Ymmm, you are home.. 

Tips: 

• Be aware of the amount of water you use between grinding and cooking, the ratio of rice to water should be controlled for the right consistency 
• If you are using frozen peas, thaw them in hot water and add it to the rice to cook.
• If you are using fresh green peas that are not very tender, microwave in a cup of water for 5-7 minutes before adding to the rice. 

Variations: 

• Adding ghee fried cashew nuts as a topping enhances the taste and also makes it heavy.