VIRUNDHOMBAL

Tomato Thokku is a flavorful South Indian condiment made with ripe tomatoes, spices, and a touch of jaggery. It’s tangy, spicy, and mildly sweet—perfect to pair with idli, dosa, chapati, or even curd rice. This thokku is not only easy to prepare but also stays fresh for days when stored properly. In this post, I’m sharing all my tips and tricks to make the perfect tomato thokku just like we do at home. Once you try it, it’s sure to become a regular in your kitchen! Our First Star : Tomato   Use fresh, red, ripe tomatoes for this thokku. Wash the tomatoes thoroughly and gently wipe them with a clean white cloth, making sure there are no water droplets on the surface. Make a circular cut around the top and remove the stem. There's no need to chop or cut the tomatoes for this recipe. Take your time with the cleaning and drying process—this is one of the most important steps in achieving the perfect thokku. Tamarind : The Natural Preservative Our next key ingredient is tamarind. Clean ...

Tomato Puli Milagai is a unique and flavorful side dish recipe that holds a special memory for me. A few years ago, I prepared this dish for idli during my Grandpa’s visit, and he loved it so much that he gave it its name – Tomato Puli Milagai. Though it’s a simple one-pot recipe, I had postponed sharing it until now. Finally, I’ve recorded a step-by-step video to guide you through this delicious dish! This mildly spiced Tomato Puli Milagai is made with small onions, green chillies, juicy red tomatoes, mustard seeds, fenugreek, jaggery, asafoetida, and curry leaves. It's packed with authentic South Indian flavor and comes together in just 20 minutes, making it the perfect side dish for idli, dosa, or even curd rice. Is Tomato Puli Milagai Spicy? Not really! It's a mild to medium-spicy dish. The green chillies blend beautifully with the tomatoes, mellowing the overall heat. You can adjust the number of green chillies to suit your taste. What Makes This Dish So Delicious? Small o...

A simple tiffin that is both delicious and rich and comes together in just 15 minutes with rava. When I have a lot of tomatoes, I always keep preparing chutney or dosa varieties with tomatoes.  Most of us add the roasted rava in the hot water that generates uniform heat which produces excellent results. After tasting rava kichadi in a restaurant, I did a few experiments to bring the glossy texture which will be perfect for 3 to 5 hours. In this method the rava is roasted along with traditional tempering made with onions and tomatoes and then hot water is added. This method prevents the formation of lumps and tastes good even after 3 hours. Now let's see how to prepare this Delicious Tomato Rava Bath. Here is the video for Tomato Rava Bath Check out my other tiffin recipes here Idli Black urid dal Dosa Pearl Milet Dosa - Kambu Dosa Aapam - Aapam without yeast  Ragi flour Upma Arisi Upma Poori Bottlegourd Adai Pepper dosa - Milagu Adai Rava Upma Semiya Upma   Rava Dosa...

This Saravan bhavan tomato thokku recipe which is actually a different tomato chutney and easy to make. This thokku tastes good with idli, dosa, chapathi and curd rice.  The method and preparation of this tomato thokku doesn't require much time. To make this tomato thokku we have to cook the tomatoes along with tamarind and ginger. Then the cooked tomato mixture is flavoured with chilli powder and a pinch of sambar powder. Make sure to use fresh red ripe tomatoes which makes the best thokku.  Few tips for a tasty thokku Use less ginger or omit it completely.  Do not cook the thokku in an iron kadai. Do not add water while grinding the tomato mixture.  If you like a smooth thokku grind them to a smooth paste or if you like small bits of tomatoes here and there in the thokku grind it coarsely.  You can also increase the garlic cloves for an extra kick of flavour.  A perfect thokku does not have a runny consistency or a dry thick chutney consistency. While coo...

Tomato Coriander Leaves Chutney - prepared with onions, tomato, coriander leaves, red chillies, garlic cloves, red chilly powder and jaggery. Daily we make different varieties of chutney for tiffin with little variations in the ingredients. Yesterday I tried this chutney with  tomatoes and fresh coriander leaves and it tasted good. We make kara chutney with onions, tomatoes and red chillies as the main ingredients. Sometimes we include garlic cloves, mint leaves, coriander leaves and we can also include chana dal, urid dal or peanuts. You can prepare different varieties of tomato chutney with so many variations. For this tomato coriander leaves chutney, just grind all the ingredients in a mixer jar and then sauted for a few minutes.  Checkout my other chutney recipes Coconut Garlic Green Chilly Chutney Tomato chutney Tomato chutney with green chillies  Chettinad Onion Tomato Chutney Small onion chutney with black urid dal Coconut chutney with red chillies Coconut chutney ...

Onion tomato chutney recipe with full video and step by step pictures. In 2005 when we were in California I have seen this Chettinad style onion tomato chutney recipe in the Aval vikatan magazine and made it immediately for dinner. I have been thinking to post this chutney in my blog for a long time. Finally, after 16 years, today I made this onion tomato chutney for paniyaram. Normally for tomato chutney or onion chutney we saute the red chillies in oil and then we grind it along with the onions and tomatoes. But for this chutney, the red chillies are dry roasted well and then powdered separately. This red chilly flakes are further sauted with onions and tomato puree. I have tried  many chutneys onion tomato combinations, but this chutney is a unique dish. We are adding the chopped small onions in this chutney without grinding it and that makes it more flavourful with a mild chunky texture. This chutney has very few ingredients, so make sure they are good and fresh. Chop fresh oni...

Tomato urid dal chutney - prepared with onions, garlic, red chillies, tomatoes, urid dal, asafoetida and curry leaves. Recently I learned this chutney recipe from my Chithi. I have posted three varieties of tomato chutney in Virundhombal. We make tomato chutneys once in a week with different combinations. With lots of fresh red tomatoes during this season, I wanted to share this chutney with a short video and step by step pictures. The chutney tasted so good with plain dosa. The addition of urid dal adds a strong flavour to any chutney. Depending on the type of tiffin you are making, adjust the consistency of the chutney. Generally, this type of chutney gets thick with the addition of dals. If you want a thick,creamy chutney, no need to add additional water to it. But if you prefer a thin chutney, add water and mix well. When using any dals for chutney, avoid roasting the dals until it turns black, which will reduce the taste and you will miss a light nutty flavour. Now let's see t...

Tomato Jam - prepared with tomato, sugar, ghee and cashew nuts. Just four ingredients are required to prepare this jam. This tomato  jam is a popular sweet in Nagercoil marriages. This sweet and tangy jam can be prepared easily within 20 minutes. Before preparing this jam I am not sure that how tomato would be suitable for dessert, because its texture is not smooth like other vegetables. But after preparing the jam I came to know that tomatoes absorb the sugar beautifully and tastes so good. To prepare this jam you have to cook the tomatoes until soft. Once the tomatoes have cooked, simply remove the skins and grind it to a smooth paste. To get a smoother jam I have drained the tomato puree after grinding it, but you can leave this step. Then the tomato puree is mixed along with the required sugar and cooked on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. As I told you before in the beetroot jam , using a heavy bottomed kadai  will keep the jam from burning in the bottom.

Spicy Tomato Rice - rice prepared with onions, tomatoes, whole garam masala and coconut milk. Easy one pot rice dish within 30 minutes.   During my school days I saw this dish in a TV cookery show prepared by the  Chef. Shanthi Balram madam. We prepare this rice frequently and it is one of our favourite rice for lunch box. It is such a flavourful rice with a few basic ingredients in your kitchen. In this recipe I used jeera samba rice, but you can use basmati rice or ponni raw rice. The first thing we need to do is to extract fresh coconut milk because we are going to cook the rice in coconut milk. Then proceed with the chopping works and the grinding works. Cooking the rice is not more than 20 minutes. For flavours I have added cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, mint leaves and sprinkled a half teaspoon of garamasala powder. I have added green chillies with ginger garlic paste and also while sauteing the onions. You can add as you prefer. I have not added any other addit...

Tomato Kurma - easy and flavourful kurma with onions, tomatoes and coconut paste. One of the best thing about this tomato kurma is that you can use as a base gravy for many dishes. After preparing this kurma, you can add your favourite ingredients like boiled soya chunks, cooked mushrooms, cooked green peas or whatever is left in your refrigerator. But don't forget to precook them. I like this tomato kurma with plain dosa, chapati or poori. Believe me, this kurma is one of the best option when you want to prepare a gravy within 10 minutes. I like the flavour of fennel and curry leaves in my coconut based kurmas. Not only it gives flavour to the gravy and it also helps in digestion. This kurma recipe isn’t a dish with specific instructions, it’s a simple process of three basic cooking methods and will always taste good with whatever tiffin you like. Now we will see the Tomato Kurma recipe with step by step instructions.

Tomato Dosa is a simple and tasty tiffin for breakfast or dinner. Rice, urid dal and tomatoes are the main ingredients for this dosa. Onions, curry leaves and other extra flavours can be added as you wish. There is no need for fermentation process for this dosa. You can prepare right after you grind the batter.

Tomato coconut chutney is a popular chutney in restaurants served for idly, dosa, rava dosa and also for starters like panniyaram and vada. Personally, I like the combination of tomatoes with fresh grated coconuts. Preparing this chutney with small onions and red ripe tomatoes will give the best flavour and taste. Try to saute the onions and tomatoes on low heat until it turns brown. Avoid using coconut powder for this chutney. Chutney with fresh coconuts will taste excellent. Here is the recipe for Tomato coconut chutney.

Tomato rice is a simple rice that makes the perfect lunch box dish for the whole family during busy weekdays. For lunch box dishes, it's uncomfortable for us to eat the tomatoes along with their skins. So in this dish I have cooked the tomatoes and removed the skins completely. After removing the skins, I have mashed the tomatoes and then sauted along with the onions. Cooking the tomatoes and removing the skins  will taste better than the tomatoes sauted along with their skins. This is my Grandma's tip and it tastes so good. There is no need for any additional flavours for this rice. If you want, you can sprinkle a pinch of garam masala powder in the final stage. If you add any other spices you may lose the flavour of the tomatoes. Checkout my other recipes with tomatoes Tomato onion sabji Tomato thokku Tomato dal Tomato chutney Tomato onion thokku

Tomato chutney is commonly called as Kara chutney in hotels due to the red colour of the dish. This chutney is not much spicy and it has a combination of flavours like sweet, hot and sour. The sweet taste of the onions, heat from the red chillies and sour from the red tomatoes make the chutney so delicious.  Not only this chutney looks good, but also tastes nice. You can use this chutney as a side dish for idly, dosa, poori, panniyaram, bajis and bondas and also you can use this as a spread for bread slices. My son is a big fan for this kara chutney and he asks me to spread inside the dosas.  A simple and tasty tomato chutney with just four ingredients. I have used small onions for this chutney you can also use big onions too.  Here is my other recipes with tomatoes Tomato onion thokku , Tomato sabji , Tomato chutney with green chillies , Tomato dal , Tomato rasam and Tomato pasta .  Here is a short video for Tomato Chutney

In most of our houses we prepare either coconut chutney with red chillies or green chillies as an accompaniment for idlies and dosas. Sometimes these two chutneys are really boring on regular rotations. One day my Chithi(aunt) taught me this different tomato chutney with green chillies. Normally for tomato chutney we add dried red chillies or red chilly powder, but in this dish the tomatoes are cooked along with green chillies and then made into a paste. The paste is further sauted with onions and flavoured with little sambar powder. The combination of the green chillies and tomatoes pair each other perfectly and perfect side dish for idly, dosa, pongal and upma.    Checkout my other recipes with tomatoes.  Tomato Onion Thokku Tomato  Rasam Tomato Sabji Tomato Pasta Tomato Thokku Tomato Millet rice Tomato Jam  Spicy Tomato Rice  Tomato Dosa  Tomato Coconut Chutney   Tomato Kurma  Tomato Rice   Tomato chutney  ...

Tomato Onion sabji for roti I absolutely like this tomato onion sabji for rotis. It's basically a tomato onion thokku. The main difference between this sabji and thokku is that it is made with fresh onions and tomatoes and it is chunkier than thokku. This is the sabji I have been making for years. I love the combination of onions and tomatoes with red chilly powder, coriander powder, curry leaves and green chillies. With this tomato sabji as a base you can prepare a quick tomato upma, tomato idiyappam and a homemade spread for bread slices. .