Monday, February 06, 2006

Tomato Kurma

Amma makes this delicious Tomato Kurma (Thakkali Kurma) for breakfast. I don't know where she got this recipe from. When I think of it, it's always been there, when we grew up. It is wonderful to have this with idlis and dosas. She makes Potato Kurma is the same way, substituting boiled potatoes for tomatoes. Sometimes with cauliflower and fresh green peas. These kurmas taste the best, when had with dosas, but with idlis, it is no less tasty!
This recipe, traditionally calls for some more coconut, but to avoid too much of coconut for health reasons, my mother adds the roasted channa dal and poppy seeds which can thicken and dish and also give the rich flavor. I can honestly say, I don't miss the coconut when I add the roasted channa dal and poppy seeds. (Btw, I store poppy seeds in the refrigerator to prevent rancidity.) This dish doesnt taste good with rice though. If you are making this to go along with rice, skip the roasted channa dal and add some more coconut.

Ripe tomatoes - 4-5, finely chopped
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig, chopped
Wet Masala:
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Roasted channa dal/Pottu kadalai - 1 tbsp
Poppy seeds / khuskhus - 1 tsp
Coconut - 1 tbsp (dry/frozen is fine, but fresh is ideal)
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Clove - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 2 (you can add more to make it more hot)

Make a fine paste of the wet masala ingedients using some water and a pinch of salt. Green chillies when ground to a paste sometimes, turn slightly bitter. The pinch of salt is added to the wet masala while grinding to prevent this.

Heat oil in a sauce pan and add the onions and curry leaves. Saute till the onions turn translucent. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle some salt to help the tomatoes cook faster. When the tomatoes are done, add the turmeric powder, ground masala and some more salt. Add about 2 cups of water and cover the sauce pan. simmer for about 15-20 mins. Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve hot with hot dosas or idlis.

23 comments:

Priya said...

wow, kay the kurma looks awesome, iam waiting to make idlies, hopefully tomorow.Nad will try tomato kurma , iam sure they'l taste as good as they look.
thanx again for the recipes, they r all really good.

Priya said...

hey kay are u from thanjavur/kumbakonam - Tamil nadu. Most of ur recipes are like what my mom makes, this kurma especially, everythings the same except for cinnamon and ginger.

Kay said...

Priya, I'm from Salem. My mom used to have a very old cookbook which has chettinad/madurai recipes. So, most of her recipes have that flavor that you are talking about. My cooking is a mix of everything I picked up from wherever I travelled, visited and a bit of my mom's cooking.

Ashwini said...

This is a new one for me. I like the idea of using tomatoes as a main ingredient. The poor things are so peripheral otherwise!! Will let you know how it turns out. Also thanks for the serving suggestions...

Priya said...

Somehow all your varan, tomato kurma reminds me of so much of my moms cooking. Salem is a nice place, lots of development these days, i have visited Sona college of technology for a presentation there.

sailu said...

That's a good kurma recipe and I am going to make it the next time I make dosas.Thanks for the recipe,Kay.

Kay said...

Thanks Priya, Ashwini and Sailu, Do tell how it went if you get to try this dish. :)

Yes Priya, Salem has grown a bit since we were kids.

Mika said...

Hi Kay- the picture looks mouth-watering. I will give this a whirl soon. Thanks for the recipe.

sailu said...

Kay,I tried your Tomato Kurma and it came out good.My family and I enjoyed it with dosas and Paneer Pilaf (Nupur's recipe).
Thanks,Kay.

Kay said...

Thanks Sailu and Mika!

Sailu, I'm glad you liked it! I'll tell my mom. She'll feel glad.

FH said...

That's looks delicious.I have some dosa batter left and a surplus of tomatoes from my veg patch.will get it done tomorrow.Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Excellent Kurma !!!

I would really recommend this 100% for every one.

Awesome buddy

Yasmeen said...

Roasted chana in the kurma sounds unique. With idlis the kurma looks perfect.

Anonymous said...

hai, i love this thakalikurma , but forgot the recipe , i am searching for about a year, finally i found here and tried , it came superb, thank u.

Kay said...

Thanks guys! I'm glad you all liked it.

Anonymous said...

Priya thank you for this nice recipes. I am from Salem as well. This dish goes very well with dosas and idilies.

Many Thanks.
Joyce

Kay said...

Thanks Joyce! glad you like the recipes.

While I'm not Priya, I do like the name. :)

Anonymous said...

good one...can also use cashew instead of pottu kadalai...this goes well with chappathis also..

Kay said...

yeah, cashews can be used too. gives a very nice creamy taste. and yes, Anita, you are right, this kind of kurma goes well with chapathis too.

SRK said...

Thanks for the recipe. It came out really good. I'm glad that after a long time I could prepare a kurma that not only is consistent, but tastes great too.

Kay said...

Glad you liked it, SRK!

Ambica Sathish said...

i tried this tomato kuruma with venpongal and it tasted really really good...

Ambica Sathish said...

i prepared tis tomato kuruma as an accompaniment for venpongal in breakfast...very tasty n mouthwatery it was...