Mother's Recipe #5

Tomato Saar

As a child, I remember being confused between tomato “Soup” and tomato “Saar”. I always wanted to have a thick creamy cheesy tomato soup but my mother used to make a thin spicy tangy tomato drink , with flavours of garlic and coconut, which I later came to know as “tomato saar”. I realised recently, its consistency is similar to rasam, but without the dal water and rasam masala. Must admit, this time I liked the Saar more than the soup!

Ingredients :

• Tomatoes - 4 - medium sized
• Grated coconut - ½ cup
• Garlic cloves - 3-4
• Dry red chilies - 3-4
• Curry Leaves - 5-6
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds -1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Dry mango powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Oil
• Salt

Freestyle Method :

1. Blanch four medium sized tomatoes for 10 minutes in boiling water. Keep aside in cold water for a while and peel off the skin.
2. Let them cool down. Then blend them into a smooth puree.
3. Grind the grated coconut, 3 red chilies, cumin seeds and garlic in a separate blender jar.
4. In a pan, heat some oil for tempering. Add mustard seeds, then one dry red chilly, asafoetida and curry leaves and wait for it to sizzle and crackle.
5. Add the coconut chili garlic paste to the pan. Sauté until the garlic loses its rawness.
6. Add the tomato puree and some leftover water from the blanching of the tomatoes to let it simmer for a few minutes. Season with salt and dry mango powder. If required, pour through a sieve to get a smooth thin shiny consistency.
7. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Tomato Saar can be eaten with rice as a light meal. In that case, the sieving process can be skipped. But I prefer to have it as a warm but fresh summer drink just like rasam, giving a subtle sour spiced satisfaction!