Sesame Tomato Chutney

Nuvvula Tomato Chutney.

Sesame tomato chutney is another simple and tasty chutney usually served with idly, dosa, vada etc. Sesame seeds are lightly toasted and ground into smooth paste along with cooked tomato and tempering. Add no water while grinding and refrigerate the chutney to elongate the shelf life.
Makes: around 2 Cups of Sesame Tomato Chutney.

Ingredients:

• Sesame Seeds 1/2 Cup
• Tomato 2
• Green Chiles 2 – 4
• Tamarind 1 inch sized Ball
• Garlic 2 Cloves
• Salt to taste

Talimpu:

• Urad Dal 1/4 tsp
• Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Mustard Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Broken Red Chiles 2
• Asafoetida a Pinch
• Curry Leaves 6
• Oil 1 tsp

Method of preparation:

Heat a pan on medium heat, add sesame seeds and toast them until they start popping or until they change to light golden color (around 1 minute).
Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves.
Wash and roughly chop the tomatoes.
Remove stems, wash and halve the green chiles.

Soak tamarind in few tablespoons of warm water for sometime.
Alternatively, microwave the tamarind with few tablespoons of water to soften it.
Squeeze the tamarind to extract all the thick tamarind juice and discard any fibers.

Heat oil in a small pan, add all talimpu ingredients in order along with garlic.
When urad dal changes color, remove half of the tempering onto a bowl along with all curry leaves.
In the same pan with remaining tempering, add chopped tomatoes, green chiles and salt.
When tomatoes become soft and mushy, remove from heat.

First grind the sesame seeds into fine powder using a spice grinder.
Then add cooked tomatoes and green chiles to the grinder and grind everything into smooth paste.
Remove the ground sesame tomato chutney onto a bowl.

Add the reserved tempering to above chutney bowl and mix well.
Serve sesame tomato chutney with steamed rice or idly or dosa etc.
Notes: Make sure to grind the sesame seeds well before adding tomato.

Suggestions: Adjust the amount of green chiles for spice. Add water if the tomatoes are not juicy enough. Reduce the tamarind if the tomatoes are little sour.
Variations: Green chiles can be replaced with dried red chiles. Few sprigs of cilantro can be added as well.
Other Names: Sesame Tomato Chutney, Nuvvula Tomato Chutney.