Thakkali/Tomato thokku

Every time my mom and I embarked on an overnight journey, foods that were packed included rotis/idlis and the thakkali thokku(spicy pickled tomato concentrate). The reson for this was these lasted long in the hot Indian summery days. And they tasted just as fresh and tasty all along. This wonderful thokku was also served at home as an accompaniment for thoor dal pulav and other breakfast dishes.

For me, this dish is special ‘coz this was one of the first dishes I ever cooked for my hubby and his ex-collegues when I visited him and got some great compliments. So recently when our friends and we decided to go to a nice little state park for a long weekend, I offered to make the thakkali thokku. And it was no different this time-while one got reminded of  her paati’s(grandmom) thokku, another got reminded of home sweet home in Hyderabad! What better compliment for one’s food than reviving fond ole memories :). This is one dish you cannot go wrong with.

Beautiful,summery tomatoes washed and ready to be cooked

For 2 servings:

tomatoes(medium, chopped/pureed)-3 nos

(Pureeing the tomatoes gives a smoother thokku than when chopped which leaves little lumps)

kashmiri red chilli powder-2.5 tsp

salt-3/4 tsp

mustard seeds-1 tsp

fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp

sesame oil/gingely oil-1 tbsp

In a hot pan, saute the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds till they mustard seeds pop and the fenugreek seeds give a wonderful aroma(don’t let them burn!). Cool and grind to a fine powder.

Heat oil in the pan and add the tomato puree. Saute on medium high for 5 mins till the puree thickens and leaves the sides of the pan. Add salt and chilli powder and cover. Cook for a couple of minutes on low heat till you see oil emerge around the mixture. Stir in the mustard-fenugreek powder and turn off the heat immediately. Serve with idlis, dosas or even rotis.

Tomato thokku ready to take a hike! No really..we went to a state park:)

Low-Cal banana nut mini muffins

Now, that title is a mouthful! Weekends are always days of waking up late, eating brunches and lunners (No I didn’t make that up, the word exists!) and lots of ‘norukku theeni'(snacks)! This weekend was no different.

There was a VERY ripe banana lying around and I wanted to make use of it for breakfast that day, you ask how? Banana Nut muffins, of course. The only hitch-there was no butter,brown sugar,walnuts or egg substitutes at home. I knew that the only way I was going to pull this off was by making a low-cal version of it with what was available at home-oil,milk,sugar and almonds. Although I was skeptical about the end result from the word ‘Go'(after all, isn’t banana nut muffin supposed to be RICH in calories), I decided I had to try it. The result actually surprised me. The muffins turned out quite light and fluffy.

A healthy and delicious breakfast for a bright Sunday morning

To make 9 muffins

ripe banana-1
oil-1/4 cup
sugar-1/4 cup
milk-1/4 cup
vanilla extract-1/2 tsp
flour-1 cup
baking powder-1/2 tsp
baking soda-1/4 tsp
salt-1/4 tsp
slivered almonds-1/4 cup

In a large bowl mash the bananas.Add oil, sugar, milk and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until combined . Fold in the nuts. The resulting batter will be quite stiff. Pour the batter into oiled muffin tins. Fill upto 2/3rds of a tin. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

The end result had the same wonderful aroma as that of ‘PazhamPori'(banana fritters)!

Served with a steaming cup of chocolate malt drink

Start a lazzzzy weekend with these yummy little fellas!