Fourth of July Roasted Tomato Chutney

July 4, 2007 at 11:30 pm · Filed under Cooking, indian cuisine

fresh summery tomatoes in early american pattern glass

I was enamoured of Indira’s cumin and chiles post of a few days back — wanted to taste this but did not have the green brinjals to make her curry. What I did have was a huge windfall of tomatoes from the ‘breakdown lane’ in the grocery store. All these lovely tomatoes for 49 cents, and not a thing wrong with one of them!
I can only hope I’ll have a few from my own plants soon…

I had been thinking about tomato chutney so all the tomatoes were perfect excuse to make some. Then I saw RP’s recent post for JFI — with the lovely photo of roasted eggplant. The holiday was also a perfect excuse — to light the grill.
I thought of roasting the tomatoes. Since the roasting gave them a smoky flavor,
I used smoky black cardamom in the chutney masala.
It turned out great!

Roasted Tomato Chutney

5-6 big ripe tomatoes

1 tsp canola oil
6 big cloves garlic, roughly chopped

For masala:

2-3 dried red chiles
1 tsp cumin seeds
12 peppercorns
3-4 black cardamom
4-5 cloves
1 small stick cinnamon

1 lump jaggery
1 tsp salt or to taste

~~~

On the charcoal grill, roast the tomatoes on all sides, about 10-15 minutes total, until skins are blackened. When cooled, peel the skins off and set aside. Reserve any juice that accumulates on the plate.

fire-roasted tomatoes

Meanwhile, dry roast the masala ingredients. When cool, grind to a powder and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute a few minutes, being careful not to burn.

Take the roasted tomatoes and squeeze them by hand into the pan. They should break up easily and the harder stem end will be left to discard.
Cook the tomatoes down, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the dry masala, stir well, and lower the heat to medium low. Continue to cook another 30 min, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the chutney has thickened.

Add jaggery and salt to taste, mix it up well and serve warm or at room temperature.

spicy-rich roasted tomato chutney — fireworks for the palate!

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