Thakkali Kai Masiyal / Raw (green) Tomato Sambhar

Necessity is the Mother of Invention they say..does that apply to our kitchens?? Have there been times, when you decide to cook something, only to realize that you dont have the ingredients to make the dish :).. What do you do?? Do you make an alternative dish or land up substituting  a new ingredient, which becomes your signature dish, that everyone can stop raving about :D

This dish was born in the kitchen, when my MIL ran out of brinjals.  and she substituted the raw tomatoes to make sambhar :).. When we saw these small fresh farm grown green tomatoes, we picked them instantly! In tamil, thakkali means tomatoes and when we say Kai, it means raw or unripe ones. A Masiyal is  very  similar to a sambhar or kozhmabu, the difference being, mashing of the veggies (Masikarde means to mash)...A tangy, tasty dish which you can mix with rice, along with a dash of oil.

Ingredients

1. Raw Tomatoes (green ones) - 6-7 small ones/ 3-4 big ones

2. Oil - 2 tbsp

3. Mustard - 2tsp

4. Channa dal - 2 tbsp

5. Toor dal - 2tbsp

6. Red Chillies - 5-6 broken into half *

7. Fenugreek - 4-5

8. Hing - a pinch

9. Sambhar Powder - 2-3 tsp

10. Turmeric - 1/2tsp

11. Tamarind - 1 tsp

12. Water - 2 1/2 cup +1/2 cup

13. Besan/Chickpea flour - 1/4 cup

14. Salt - to taste

Preparation Time!!

1. Chop the green tomatoes into small pieces and keep aside

2. In a pan, add oil and once warm, add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the dals, fenugreek, red chillies & hing. Saute till the dals turn light brown

3. Then add the tomatoes and mix well. Cook till the tomatoes shrink and cook well. Everytime you stir, lightly mash them

4. Once they are cooked well, add the sambhar powder and mix well. Add turmeric. To this add tamarind water ( 1tsp of tamarind diluted in 2 1/2 cup of water) and salt

5. Let this boil for 10 minutes for the tamarind smell to go. Meanwhile, dilute the besan/ chickpea flour with 1/2 cup of water and keep ready. Ensure, there are no lumps

6. Once the tamarind smell goes, add the besan mixture, while continuously stirring the masiyal ( If you dont stir, lumps will form)

7. Let it boil for another 5-6 minutes and then switch off

This tastes great even with dosa/adai's.

Pointers

* I have added more red chillies, coz the ones we have are  not spicy

** if the final mixture gets very thick, add a little more water to dilute as per your needs

*** Ensure, you are constantly stirring the masiyal, as you add chickpea flour mixture

**** Dont increase the quantity of tamarind , as tomatoes are already tangy! If using tamarind instead of tamarind paste, then take it the size of a gooseberry