Tomato pickle made with ripe seasonal tomatoes, spices and oil. An Indian meal is incomplete without a pickle on the side. We make many kinds of pickles like Mango pickle, Ginger pickle, Tomato pickle, Carrot pickle and many more. This tomato pickle is flavorsome, spicy, hot and simply delicious. It goes so well with just anything – roti, paratha, Dal fry, plain rice and ghee. In this post I share the traditional way to make Andhra Tomato Pickle and this is as popular as the Andhra Avakaya.

In India, every region has their own unique way of making pickles. Not only the method but also the ingredients used vary a lot. In North India a lot of people use mustard oil and in South India sesame oil is used. The pickle recipes are usually passed on over the generations.
Now back to this tomato pickle, there are 2 ways a Andhra tomato pickle is made. I have shared one here and the other is made with sun dried tomatoes. The pickle made with sun dried tomatoes last for years even without refrigeration.
But not many us have the time and chance to sun dry tomatoes. So the recipe shared in this post comes handy when you want to make it with minimum effort.
After making this recipe for many years, I have fine tuned it further and perfectioned it for better shelf life. So read all the notes in the recipe card below.
This tomato pickle tastes tangy, hot and sour with flavors of methi, mustard 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.
How To Make Tomato Pickle (Stepwise photos)
1. Wash tomatoes under running water and keep them.
2. Dry roast fenugreek seeds on a low flame stirring often.

3. They will turn deep golden and aromatic. Do not burn as burnt fenugreek seeds will taste even more bitter. Transfer to a plate and cool them.

4. Optional: If using mustard seeds dry roast them in the same pan just for a min until they begin to pop.

5. Keep stirring so they don’t burn. You have to be very careful while toasting the mustard seeds. Transfer to a plate and cool them.

6. Add the roasted seeds to a grinder. If you want you can also powder both the seeds together. But I prefer to do that separately as it is easy to adjust the quantities.

7. Grind to a very fine powder. We don’t want any grits here. Keep this aside in a plate.

8. The same way, add mustard seeds to the grinder and powder.

9. Transfer this powder to a plate. Keep aside.

10. Soak tamarind in hot water. Leave it aside. If you want you may add 50 grams deseeded tamarind directly to the pickle but I don’t prefer as there will lots of fibers and pulp.

Make Tomato Pickle
11. Heat a pan with oil, add tomatoes. Saute for 3 to 4 mins on a medium high heat..

12. Cook until mushy. If you want you may cover and cook on a low heat. The tomatoes must be fully soft and mushy.

13. Meanwhile check the tamarind paste. Squeeze the tamarind so much of the fibers separate and all of the pulp comes to the water. You should get a thick tamarind paste.

14. When the tomatoes are mushy, Place a strainer and add all of the tamarind into it. Pass all of the paste through the strainer to the pan. For this use a strong spoon and press down the tamarind. Discard the pulp.

15. This is how the tamarind looks.

16. Cook this together until thick.

17. This step is optional – If you want a smooth tomato pickle with garlic flavors then add the cooled tomato mixture along with garlic to a grinder jar. Grind to a smooth paste.

18. To the tomato tamarind mixture, add turmeric, red chilli powder and salt. If you do not blend the tomatoes, add these spices to the pan in which you cooked the tomatoes.

19. Mix well until the spices blend with tomatoes.

20. In another pan, Pour oil and heat it. When the oil is hot enough, add mustard seeds. They will soon pop, then add red chilies.

21. Add crushed or sliced garlic and curry leaves. When the garlic is slightly roasted, add hing.

22. Now mix the tomato pickle with the tempering. Turn on the stove and begin to saute this for 5 to 8 minutes on a low heat. This step ensure a good shelf life.

23. Add methi powder and mustard powder in batches to suit your taste. Mix well and taste test. I use up all of the spice powders (methi and mustard) and also add 2 tbsps more salt. Mix well and turn off.

24. Cool this completely and then store in a air tight glass jar. Store it in a shelf away from moisture and humidity.

I bottle the tomato pickle in many small jars, so each time I open a new jar, pickle smells fresh and tastes good. This keeps good in the refrigerator for 6 months and at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks.

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.
- 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
Recipe Card

Tomato Pickle Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
Ingredients
- 500 grams tomatoes chopped
- ½ cup red chili powder (6 to 8 tbsps, byadgi or kashmiri)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 50 to 80 grams Dry tamarind (Indian tamarind, 50 grams if using seedless)
- 25 to 35 grams garlic (optional, read notes)
- 1½ teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek seeds or 2 teaspoons roasted powder)
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
- 1 tablespoon oil for frying tomatoes
- ⅓ cup salt (more to adjust, I use 2 tbsps more)
tempering
- 90 to 120 ml oil (mustard or peanut or sunflower)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 6 to 8 cloves garlic (sliced or crushed)
- 1 to 2 dried red chilli deseeded
- ¼ teaspoon hing (asafetida)
Instructions
Preparation
- Make sure all your ingredients and cutlery are dry and moist free. Wash tomatoes under running water and leave them aside.
- Skip this step if using tamarind pulp or want to add the tamarind directly to the pickle. Bring ¾ cup water to a rolling boil and add tamarind to it. Turn off the stove and let the tamarind soak in it.
- On a very low flame, dry roast fenugreek seeds on a low flame till they turn deep golden but not burnt. They must emit a nice aroma. Transfer to a plate and cool.
- If using mustard add them and dry roast on a low flame just for a minute or until they begin to pop but not burnt. Transfer to a plate and cool.
- Once cool, powder the seeds to a fine powder together or separately (mustard & fenugreek) . I prefer to do them separately as it is easy to adjust the quantities while using.
How to Make Tomato Pickle
- Heat a heavy bottom pan with 1 tablespoon oil. Add the chopped tomatoes saute for 3 to 4 minutes and then cook covered until soft and mushy.
- Meanwhile squeeze the soaked tamarind fully with your fingers. You should see most of the pulp in the water and the fibers separated or loosened.
- When the tomatoes turn mushy and completely soft, place a strainer/colander over the pot and the tamarind pulp to it.
- Using a steel spoon, press down the pulp so much of the extract goes into the pan. This way pass all of the tamarind to the pan. Discard the fibers in the colander/strainer.
- Cook this mixture until it becomes thick and begins to leave the pan. Turn off the stove.
- Optional: If you want you may cool this completely and blend to a smooth paste along with garlic in a grinder jar. This step gives you smooth pickle.
- Add chili powder, salt and turmeric to the tamarind and tomato mixture. Mix all of these until well blended.
Tempering Tomato Pickle
- Heat oil in a pan until hot enough. Turn down the heat to low, add mustard seeds.
- When you hear the seeds splutter, add broken red chillies, garlic and curry leaves.
- Let the garlic sizzle and change their color slightly then add and pour this to the tomato pickle.
- Mix well until the oil incorporates into the tomato pickle. Then continue to cook on a low heat for 5 to 8 mins.
- Add methi and mustard powder. You may add in batches to see if you require all of the powder we made. I add all of it plus 2 tablespoons salt at this stage. Turn off the heat.
- Cool the tomato pickle completely. Store this in a air tight glass bottle. Keep it at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks or up to 6 months in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Tomatoes: Use red ripe, and pulpy heirloom tomatoes.
- Red Chilli Powder: I used milled byadgi chilli powder that is pure and is not hot. So 6 to 8 tbsps gives a moderate level of heat to the pickle. If using any other variety, then feel free to cut down as much as you think is good enough. *Update – I have also made this with Kashmiri chilli powder and works well with half cup.
- Tamarind: This recipe is best made with dry tamarind for better shelf life. If you want to use tamarind concentrate start with less amounts. However I can’t guarantee about the shelf life. I use 80 grams tamarind with seeds. If you want you may add 50 grams deseeded tamarind directly to the pickle but I don’t prefer as there will lots of fibers, pulp & sometimes pesky ingredients. So I prefer to soak and then pass through a strainer.
- Garlic: Traditionally raw garlic is blended in with cooked tomatoes and tamarind. This gives a pungent, garlicy and hot flavor to the pickle. For a kids’ friendly version of this tomato pickle simply skip grinding the garlic and add all of them crushed to the tempering or reduce the quantities .
- To the Tempering/seasoning, 1 tbsp. channa dal and urad dal can be added and fried till golden, it imparts a good aroma to the pickle. They soak in the pickle and eventually taste tangy. Adding them is optional. Not everyone may like this, if you wish use them.
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

Hi Swasthi,
I have been following all ur recipes.. i am an amateur in cooking… Its been usually easy and perfect out put.. not sure wat happened here but tamrind kind of exceeded. Is there a solution to what i can do reduce the tamrind tangyness?
Hi Vasuda,
Thanks for trying the recipes. I am surprised! With half cup of chilli powder it still tastes tangy. Have you not discarded the leftover tamarind pulp in the strainer? Make another batch without tamarind and mix both of them. It should turn out perfect.
Walmart stopped selling this item so I tried your recipe. Is so much better, not going back store bought ever again. Thank you!
Thanks for trying Sunil
Glad you like it.
I swathi I’m great fan of your recipes,, thank you so much.. I have tried your recipes they are good.
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