Tomato chutney and 4 years of completion !!

Well, first of all I would like to announce that 'My Kitchen Treats': my 'baby' has turned 4 years old !! :)..... I wanted to mention this milestone atleast this time as I have not acknowledged this occasion in the previous years. This blog has been a source of personal encouragement and motivation during innumerable occasions in my life. I would like to quote something here from the movie 'Julie and Julia' where Julie says (I don't remember the exact phrase, but the meaning can be summed upclose to this): "When things don't always turn out as expected in your daily life, ......there is always something you know for sure when you enter your kitchen, and that is, nothing can go wrong when you use the right ingredients in the right way to make a dish". I am sure at least some of you bloggers might agree to this. (Not that I have any plans to follow her path ;-) , just that I could relate very well to what she was telling). Iliked the movie and I had seen it just recently, hence remembered this sentence today....
Its not complete until I acknowledge, You, my readers , who have been always a source of great joy and encouragement until this milestone. It has been a wonderful journey, which I hope to continue with your support.

The picture below is from our Vishu day Vishukkani :) Thought this was a good occassion to display dear Krishna's photo here.

Coming to this recipe of Tomato Pickle, I would like to say that this was something I started to relish from my college days. The college hostel cafeteria served tomato pickles (don't know the brand as the same bottles were being re-filled over and over again). These tasted great with the afternoon meal or as a dip with Idli-Dosa or snack.

(pic below)A view of my indoor gardening experiments :) The biggest among them is the tomato plant. I am hoping to get at least one tomato this time. I have never been successful in the past. Hence this time I am giving my tomato plant special attention ;-)

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The pic below shows my tomato plant in the background (the tomatoes are yet to come)

One of these past days, we bought Ginger Pickle 'Priya' brand and we both love every bit of it. I was inspired to make a similar pickle and read the ingredients. I didn't have enough ginger, hence settled for a similar pickle with tomato.

I used the same ingredients the pickle had, except that instead of tamarind I used a lot of tomatoes to make a Tomato pickle . Hence this chutney came into existence.

My hubby loves this chutney with Idli/Dosa. The version of tomato chutney I usually make has a lighter taste as it has fewer ingredients than this one. Here is how the recipe goes:

Ingredients:

• Tomato : 3 medium sized ones
• Onion: 1 small sliced into thick slices
• Garlic: 1-2 cloves
• Ginger : small piece
• Jaggery : 1/4 cup
• Fenugreek seeds
• Mustard seeds : 2 teaspoons
• Hing : 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry red chilli : 5-8 medium sized
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Fry all the ingredients except salt and jaggery, in the order of fenugreek,mustard seeds, red chilli, garlic, ginger, hing, onion,and tomato until the tomato becomes mushy and onion is cooked well.
2. Then add jaggery and stir well to combine. Switch off fire.
3. Allow mixture to cool
4. Grind it to paste in mixie without adding any water. 
5. Add water towards the end while emptying  the paste out of the mixie.
6. Add salt to taste. Done :)