Thakkali Thokku/Tomato Pickle/Spread

          I always have some kind of thokku/pickle at home which comes in handy, when you don't have time to make chutneys or other side dishes. Of all the thokkus, the house favorite is the Thakkali Thokku, we use it as a spread on bread, mix it with rice or as a side dish for our idlis, dosas and rotis. Though you get a lot of ready made ones, I always prefer home made, the main reason being you can make it less oily and less salty.   Everybody has their own version, this is the way I make it..

Need To Have

• Tomatoes - 7 medium
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jaggery - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

Roast And Grind

• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Method

          Boil about 3 or 4 cups of water, when it starts boiling add the tomatoes. After 5 minutes or so you can see the outer skin of the tomatoes start splitting. At this stage, remove the tomatoes from the water, cool, peel the skin and blend them.

Dry roast the ingredients given under 'roast and grind', cool and powder them. Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the blended tomatoes, along with the asafoetida, salt, turmeric and red chilly powders.

          Mix and cook it till it thickens to a jam consistency. Add the jaggery and ground powder, mix for a minute and switch off. Heat some oil in another pan, add the curry leaves, saute for a minute. Add this to the tomatoes, cool to room temperature and serve.

Note
A short cut for the tomatoes, you can use the canned crushed tomatoes or the peeled whole tomatoes (I have used them to make thokku when I was in the US).
Don't let the fenugreek seeds turn dark, they'll taste bitter.
If your chilly powder is a less spicy one, use more.
Use ripe tomatoes, the skin splits faster for them than for the less ripe ones.
While blending or mashing the tomatoes, it need not be really smooth.
If you add a lot of oil for making the thokku, and the oil floats on top, then you can store it outside for a week or so, the store bought ones has so much oil and salt ( used as preservatives). But I prefer reducing the oil and storing the thokku in the refrigerator.
Cover and cook once you have added the blended tomatoes, prevents splattering and less cleaning later.