There are many recipes for making tomato saaru. But this is the good old simple and easy recipe which my amma prepares, which she learnt from my grandmother. We do not need rasam powder for this saaru instead sambar powder is used. My amma always makes it this way, the coriander leaves added to this saaru gives a good aroma, so that it gives you appetizing feel. We use to drink this as a soup too during rainy days or when we suffer from cold. My daughter is a great fan of my amma’s saaru.
Ingredients:-
- Ripe tomatoes – 3-4 nos
- Green chilly – 1 nos slit
- Tamarind – marble size
- Jeera powder – 1 tbsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Sambar powder – 1 tbsp
- Pepper corns – 10-12 nos
- Coriander leaves – 1/4th bunch
- Salt to Taste
For seasoning:-
- Curry leaves – few sprigs
- Mustard – 1 tsp
- Hing – 1 tsp
Method:-
- Take a vessel, add slit tomatoes, green chillies, tamarind, turmeric powder, coriander leaves and enough water. Cook this with enough water till the tomatoes turn soft, and the skin leaves the fruit.
- Allow it to cool. Now crush them with hands and then blend them to a smooth puree. Also mash the tamarind which is cooked in this water.
- Keep the vessel again on gas and bring to boil.
- By this time crush pepper corns and jeera to a coarse powder with the help of mortar and pestle or in a mixer grinder.
- Add this coarse powder and sambar powder to the boiling tomato puree. Add enough water required till you reach the correct consistency of the saaru.
- Add salt to taste. Allow the mixture to boil well.
- In a seasoning pan heat oil splutter mustard, hing and curry leaves. Pour this on the boiling saaru and switch off the gas. Close with a lid.
An aromatic and tantalizing saaru is ready.
Notes:-
- Proportion of all the ingredients mentioned above can be adjusted according to one’s taste and quantity required.
- Left over Daalithoy or freshly cooked dali (daal) can also be added to this saaru for another variety.
- Apart from saatvik days 1 or 2 cloves of crushed garlic can also be added while cooking the tomatoes.
Konkani Khann Anik Jevan 