Tomato pickle recipe – Traditionally this andhra tomato pickle is made with sun dried tomatoes. But for those living abroad or living in high rise buildings or in places where there is not enough sun, this method comes handy. This is my version of the nilava tomato pachadi, that i make at home and store for about 3 months.
This tomato pickle tastes tangy, hot and sour with flavors of methi and garlic. The amount of red chili powder, fenugreek seeds powder to use here depends on the kind of tomatoes you use.
If your tomatoes are tangy, you can just skip using tamarind and reduce the levels of red chili and fenugreek powders. The tomatoes i use are moderately sour and not very tangy, so I use extra tamarind.
Tomato pickle recipe, over the years has gone through a series of modifications in the quantity of fenugreek, and garlic that is used.
Preparation
1. Wash tomatoes and set aside to dry.
2. Dry roast fenugreek seeds on a low flame and set aside to cool.If using mustard seeds fry them in the same pan just for a min and set aside. I don’t use.
3. Soak tamarind in warm water just to immerse it. (boiled and cooled water)
4. Add roasted fenugreek and mustard seeds to a blender and make a fine powder.
5. Heat a pan with oil, add tomatoes with salt and turmeric, cook on a medium flame till they turn mushy.
6. Mash up the soaked tamarind and filter it to the cooked tomatoes. Adjust the tamarind to suit your taste.I discard the pulp. Mix well and cook for 3 to 4 mins until the mixture bubbles well.
How to make tomato pickle
7. Once the mix is cool fully, add chili powder, salt, fenugreek powder to this mixture. Stir well, break up lumps, if any.
8. Heat a seasoning pan with 2 tbsp. oil, add mustard, allow them to splutter. Then add garlic and fry for a min, next add red chili and curry leaves.Fry till the curry leaves turn crisp. Add hing.
9. Add this seasoning and pour rest of the oil (60 ml) to the tomato pickle and mix well.
Once completely cool store it in a clean, dry, airtight jar. Stays fresh for several months. I bottle the pickle in many small jars, so each time I open a new jar, pickle smells fresh and tastes good.
Tips on how to prepare and preserve pickles for longer time.
- Always keep your hands, ingredients and the utensils dry, free from moisture while preparing pickles.
- If using water to soak the tamarind always use only boiled and cooled/warm water.
- Always use a dry spoon to serve the pickles and store them in a dry and cool place.
For more Pickle recipes on the blog, you can check
Mango pickle
Mango Avakaya
cauliflower pickle
drumstick pickle
ginger pickle
Andhra tomato pickle recipe
Tomato pickle
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
Ingredients
- 500 Grams tomatoes chopped
- 6 tbsp red chili powder (less spicy kind) (adjust to suit your taste)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 80 Grams tamarind (optional)
- ¾ to 1 tbsp methi seeds (fenugreek)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
- 2 tbsp oil for frying tomatoes
- Salt as needed
tempering
- 90 ml oil (mustard or peanut or sunflower)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 6 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1 red chilli deseeded
- 1 Pinch hing or asafoetida
Instructions
Preparation for tomato pickle
- Make sure all your ingredients are dry and moist free. To ensure you can also sun dry red chili powder and turmeric for some time. Wash tomatoes under running water and leave them aside to dry.
- Bring 4 to 6 tbsp water to a rolling boil. Allow the temperature to cool down and then soak tamarind in it. You can also skip this step and add tamarind directly to the tomatoes. But most times tamarind is not clean so soaking and filtering is needed.
- Dry roast fenugreek seeds on a low flame till they emit a nice aroma. if using mustard add them and fry just for a minute and set aside to cool.
- Powder the roasted fenugreek seeds and mustard.
Making tomato pickle or pachadi
- Chop tomatoes and fry them with salt and turmeric in a pan on a medium flame till they turn mushy. The pulp should thicken.
- Squeeze the tamarind fully with your fingers & filter it to remove the impurities & pulp. Add this to the cooked tomatoes. Adjust the tamarind to suit your taste. Mix and cook well for 5 mins until the mixture bubbles up very well.
- When the mixture cools down completely, add chili powder, salt, fenugreek and mustard powder and mix well. Check salt and spice. Add more if needed.
Tempering tomato pachadi
- Heat a pan with oil. Add mustard, fry till they splutter, add garlic. Fry till they turn aromatic, add red chilies and curry leaves. Fry them until they turn crisp. Add hing.
- Turn off the stove. Transfer the tomato pickle to the pan and mix well.
- Cool the tomato pickle completely. Store this in a air tight glass bottle.
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Great recipe, well explained! I have a pot of tomatoes boiling for the past 6 hours and almost ready to add the rest of the ingredients to yield about 10 pounds of finished pickle. The last time I made this was in 2016 and one bottle got forgotten in the fridge. Opened that bottle recently and still tastes great after 4 years! In addition to your listed ingredients I add an ample quantity of lemon juice concentrate.
Thank you so much! That’s awesome!
So glad to know it was good for this long.
Thanks again for leaving a comment.
🙂
Ma’m,
Can I skip red chilli powder and increase the amount of red chillies?
Hi Kavitha
Not sure if you got confused with another recipe. This is a pickle recipe and cannot be made without red chili powder
It’s not confusion ma’m, I am having more red chillies and less red chilli powder at home now. So I thought maybe I could replace red chilli powder with red chillies. I didn’t know that red chilli powder is a mandate to prepare a pickle.
Kavitha!
Okay. You can saute the red chilies in oil first and then add the tomatoes. Blend the red chilies along with little cooked tomatoes. Add it back. Make it in small quantity and check. Not sure how it will taste. Hope this helps
This was great and an easy way to use up all the tomatoes in my garden right now
Hi Swasthi,
I’ve been following your recipes for quite awhile. Everything turned out out good and yummy.
I tried the tomato pickle without the tamarind. So reduced the chilli accordingly. But it turned out to be very very spicy. I added so much oil to compensate that but nothing seems to work out. Any tips to make it edible?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Preethi,
You are welcome. Thanks for following the recipes. I should have put a note to use mild chilli powder. There is only one way to reduce the heat. Make another batch without chilli and lesser oil. Then mix with the previously made batch. It will turn out good. Hope this helps.
Thanks for responding Swasthi. That sounds good.. I’ll surely try that.
Hi Swasthi,
I read in your description above that tomato pickle is made with sun-dried tomatoes. Could you please share that recipe too.
Thank you
Hi Preethi,
I have to get the recipe from my mom. Yes sure I can but I will take some time.
Hi Swasthi, I am a great fan of your recipes..Most of them I have tried and they are of excellent taste..Thank You..
Hi Mamatha,
You are welcome. Thank you so much for trying the recipes. Glad your food turns out excellent.
🙂
Hi swathi,
Great recipe..I have a doubt..do we need to blend fenugreek and mustard separately are together?
Thanks,
Haripriya..
Hi Haripriya
Yes you can powder them together as the quantities are very less. Most times I powder about ¼ cup methi seeds and ¼ cup mustard separately in a blender and store in glass bottle. Refrigerate them to make pickles for 6 months.
3 kgs Tomatos pickle nilva pachadi ki kolathalu.
Fantastic recipe! Did double quantities. Used tamarind purée which is easier, and added the dal. And gingelly oil for the tempering. The beauty of this recipe, unlike some others, is that it is very quick to prepare. Thanks for posting this!
Hi Heidi
You are welcome. Happy to know it turned out good. Thank you so much for the comment.
Awesome recipes Swathi . Please keep posting recipes of chutneys, picles, and vegetables cooked for daily meals in Andhra Pradesh/ Telengana . Your step wise directions are very helpful ! Thank you ?
Welcome Alka
Thank you so much. Yes will surely keep posting more recipes.
🙂
Hi swasthi, tempting recipe…. how long can v store it?….can it be stored without fridge?… thanks…
Priti,
I guess it keeps good without refrigeration for at least 2 to 3 months.
Thank you Swathi. For many years I was looking for an authentic tomato picke recipe and finally found yours to be just like the ones I had many years ago when I’m lived in Secunderabad. Thanks again.
Welcome Gerry.
Thanks for trying
Can we use dabur homemade tamarind paste without soaking tamarind pulp in water?
Preeti,
Firstly tamarind paste in pickle will reduce the shelf life. May be if you want to make it and use up within a week. Then it’s fine.
Secondly if using paste, then you will have to add it approximately. The above proportions may not work.
Next not sure if the paste will smell good in a pickle.
Hi Swati, Thanks a lot for your wonderful recipes. This is my one stop blog for all my cooking needs. I tried this recipe and it turned out great.
This time I want to try it with readymade tamarind pulp. Do you think this will work?
Welcome Ramya
Thanks for trying. Yes it does work with the pulp, but no idea how much to use as it depends on the sourness. You experiment adding little only and then adjust as needed. Hope this helps
My pickle turned out a little bitter. Do you know what may have caused this? I’m wondering if I roasted the fenugreek a little too much.
Hi Delara
Yes it can happen due to over roasting fenugreek. The bitterness reduces as the pickle ages a bit. It may take about 7 to 10 days. If that doesn’t help, then make another batch of the same without fenugreek and mix both. This will neutralize the bitter taste. HOpe these help
Thank you so much.. Really delicious . Actually I happend to taste this achar before from my frnds mom n it was delicious n I was lookin for the recipe n I found urs..Both of em so yummy !
Welcome Syam
I tried this recipe. Really awesome. Thank you
Welcome Suma
very nyz ….
Thank you
I BUY TOMATOES FREQUENTLY…MY FAMILY REALLY LOVES IT
Thanks Tulasi
hi
should we store these pickle in refrigerator?
Yes! Refrigerate it
Hi ,
I want to make 500gms of this pickle , so how many tomatoes should I use for this pickle ??
Does Same quantity of tomatoes will yield same amount of pickle ?
Thanks in advance
Hi Swetha
I do not know how much of the tomatoes in grams will be reduced after cooking. It should be the same due to the addition of tamarind and chili powder
Thanks
Yummy outcome. One of the best uses of tomatoes. Thank you. God bless you.
Welcome Sulata
So good to know the recipe was useful.
Thanks for sharing the outcome
Yummy outcome. One of the best uses of tomatoes. God bless you. Thank you.
Hai Swathi,
Very tasty recipie
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