Tamatar ki tari is spicy and tangy Punjabi curry made with tomatoes as core ingredient and is served with matar pulao and a raita. This is another delicious recipe in my #Traditional Monday series in which I share recipes from my Mom's Kitchen.
Many of you who follow me on my various social media see a lot of fancy food popping up time and again. Due to my profession, I have to eat a lot of fancy and exciting food while shooting, or while conceptualizing and designing recipes or menus. I am in love with that part of my job. But what get's me really excited is home cooked simple food. And If that home-cooked food is cooked by my mom, that actually makes it ultimate COMFORT.
Tamatar ki tari is basically a tomato curry in which tomatoes are cooked till pulpy and them a thin watery gravy is made by adding water and cooking it with basic spices. The word "Tari" means watery gravy or as some people call it "Rasa" and not to be confused with word Tehri which is a rice dish.
Now when I am talking about Mom's food and Tamatar ki Tari, let me share a small anecdote from my childhood. As a child (5-6 years old) I was the famous fussy eater of the family. I will not eat any dish that was not cooked by my Mom. And this was not just home, but even when we were visiting the relatives or friends too. If I had slightest of the doubts, that it was not cooked by Mom, I won't eat it. In fact, I would not eat would be an understatement, I would throw I big tantrum and won't eat food unless I saw Mom cooking it. Even now I am reminded of this by the relatives and family friends I meet :).
Now that I and even our children have all grown up, she remembers it very fondly, but I can imagine what an embarrassing situation that might be for her that time.
Time has changed but my love of her cooking still remains the same. Not that I still throw a tantrum of she is not cooking 😀 but I love her food and prefer it over anything else from all over the world. And the Tomato tari recipe which I am sharing today is one of her most loved recipes.
Tamatar ki tari is a very simple recipe that can be served with any rice dish but tastes exceptionally good with vegetable pulao or peas pulao (matar wale chawal).
Anyone can create a great tasting dish with good ingredients, but I feel that if you can cook simplest of food in such a tasty way that will leave everyone asking for more is what makes you a good cook. My Mom cooks a limited number of dishes mostly Punjabi style food but whatever she cooks that is absolutely delicious ! ! So here's my Mom's Tamatar Ki Tari for traditional Monday series and if you want to try her other recipes you can check them by clicking here.
If this is not comfort meal then what is ! Tamatar Tari, Matar pulao, Boondi raita, Cucumber and papad to add that crunch <3.
If you like these traditional curries and Indian Food, be sure to follow my Indian Vegetarian Curries board on Pinterest. I am sure you are going to love it.
Ingredients
- 500 g tomoto Red ripe pulpy
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- to taste salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tbsps coriander leaves chopped
- ½ teaspoon garam masala punjabi
Instructions
- Wash and cut the tomatoes into approximately ½ inch pieces and keep them aside.
- Heat up oil in a pan and add cumin seeds in the hot oil. When cumin starts to splutter add chopped onion and cook them till they are light pink in color on medium heat.
- Now lower the heat to lowest setting add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt, mix it well and immediately add chopped tomatoes.
- Cover the pan and cook these tomatoes for 10-12 minutes on low heat.
- Remove the lid and with the back of ladle start mashing the cooked and pulpy tomatoes, till they are nicely mashed. It will take about 4-5 minutes.
- Now add 2 cups of water, put the lid back on the pan and let the curry boil for 7-8 minutes on low medium heat.
- Finally add garam masala powder and coriander leaves. Serve it hot with any Pulao.
vanyadhanya
Such a simple dish that would be perfect for my Meatless Mondays
Rekha
Thank you. Do give it a try and if you do please don't forget to share your feedback 🙂