Tomato Saar | Easy One-Pot Method

Tomato Saar for a Mangalorean is comfort food! Enjoyed best with steamed rice but this tangy curry of soupy consistency can also be enjoyed on its own and can really clear out the sinuses. Made almost in a jiffy with minimal ingredients and you are all set for a comfort meal. The tartness of the tomatoes, the sweetness of the onions and the heat from the freshly cracked pepper come together well to lift up your spirits on a gloomy day.

How to make Tomato Saar

Some like to blanch the tomatoes, de-skin them and puree them and then proceed with making the Saar. But, why unnecessarily complicate a simple dish? I like to keep it as simple as possible and make it in just one pot. No blanching, no post-cook tempering. Everything is done together in one pot. Start off with spluttering the mustard seeds in oil along with the cumin, green chillies and curry leaves. This takes care of the tempering. Now add the aromatics viz. the finely chopped ginger and garlic and fry for about half a minute.

Add finely chopped onions and sweat them till they turn translucent. Do not fry them. Add finely chopped tomatoes and cook till they disintegrate and turn mushy. Since we are not blanching and pureeing the tomatoes, it is very important to chop them fine. This ensures that the tomato saar will be quite homogeneous while retaining a coarse rustic texture to it. If you want it to be slightly finer in texture, at this stage you can use a masher and mash the ingredients a bit. Add some turmeric powder, freshly cracked black pepper, salt and finally water. Give a good mix, bring to a boil and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Done! Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.

Note that, the quantity of water can be varied as per your requirement, whether you want the Saar to be more watery or a bit thicker. The proportions I have used are what works best for me. But feel free to tweak it to your requirement. Also, another factor to consider while adding water is how juicy and ripe the tomatoes are. Also feel free to tweak the quantity of pepper to suit your requirement. I enjoy the Tomato Saar best with some steamed par-boiled rice and a portion of stir fried veggie or a fried fish like Pomfret or even my Harissa prawns.

Tomato saar

Jason Alfred Castelino @ www.oneplateplease.com

A tangy soupy curry made of tomatoes enjoyed best with steamed rice

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, Mangalorean

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp Coconut Oil (can use vegetable oil / ghee too)
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 3 pc Green Chillies, slit
• 2 sprigs Curry leaves
• 1 inch Ginger (finely chopped/ grated)
• 6-7 cloves Garlic (finely chopped/ grated)
• 2 pc Onions, medium sized (finely chopped)
• 6 pc Tomatoes, medium sized (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper, freshly cracked
• Salt, as acquired
• 3 cups Water

for Garnish:

• ½ cup Coriander leaves , finely chopped

Instructions

 

• Heat the oil to medium heat in a medium size pot and splutter some mustard seeds
• Follow this with the cumin seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger and garlic and fry for about 30 secs
• Follow this by sweating the onions till they turn translucent.
• Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat until they disintegrate and turn mushy
• At this point, if you wish you can mash all the ingredients a bit with the help of a masher (optional step)
• Follow this with the turmeric powder, freshly cracked black pepper and salt and give a good mix
• Add the water, mix well and bring it toa boil and cook for about 10-15 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serving Suggestion:

• Best enjoyed hot with steamed par-boiled rice along with a fried fish

Keyword Tomato Curry, Tomato Saar

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