Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku Recipe | How to Make Spicy Tomato and Garlic Chutney/Relish

Learn how to make Tomato and Garlic Thokku ~ Spicy tomato and garlic chutney/relish for Dosa and Idli

One thing I never thought of becoming when I donned motherhood hat among other very colourful and interesting hats I wear day to day life was getting absent minded and forgetful! Someone who could remember couple of dozens of 10-12 digit phone numbers or every family and friends’ birthdays or anniversary dates was starting to find it difficult to even remember her own cell phone number.

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku Recipe

Just few weeks back, I went for shopping and purchased few books for myself, only to be surprised see the same books in a cardboard box sitting on my desk few days later. In my absent mindedness and also over exited state of mind when spotting the books that I wanted to buy for over a year, I had completely forgotten the fact that DH had placed an online order few days back! Sometimes I become a butt of DH’s poor jokes as motherhood has not only made me loose some hair from what was rather glorious dark mane, but also few memory cells from my brain too have gone missing to the joys of bringing up Lil Dumpling! I just laugh out loud, rather sarcastically, and put my nose up in the air and walk off.

That is when I feel good about having my own piece of past in the form of my blogs, both personal and public. Even as a kid I maintained a dairy where I scribbled every small details of the daily life from the events at school, play grounds, about friends and family. Adolescent days journal was filled with little notes of my dreams and aspirations, questions and confusions, rebellious thoughts and of course few silly notes about, what else, boys! And then the world of internet came to existence, but my love for writing handwritten journal remained with me, like some loyal friend! The year long courtship and long distance relationship with DH before we officially tied knot saw me penning down every single detail of our relationship which makes quite interesting and chuckling reading now! ;)

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku ~ Less is more!

I tried to maintain a journal after moving to this country and I did succeed writing it for first 6 months. But then job happened and travel bug bit me big time which sadly took over my journal writing habit. What I couldn’t capture in words and sentences, I captured in films and photographs. And before I knew it, I had my food blog within a year which allowed me to share few stories of my life. Now I have this virtual space where I can turn pages back by few clicks and read what I had been up to few years back. It is a nice feeling… Oh, make it lovely as it sounds and feels better than just ‘nice’!

Monsoon Spice has not only helped me in capturing few important memories of my life, both good and bad, but also helped me in documenting recipes which I loved cooking for my loved ones, shared with my family and friends and relished it with joy! And when someone writes to me and shares their joy as how they find this blog useful in learning and cooking the recipes they love, I can’t help but feel happy and proud that I helped someone in a small way!

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku ~ Packed with flavour

I come back and refer MS whenever I want to recreate the same taste which I or my loved ones fell in love with. Some of the recipes include quite a lot of ingredients than I can actually remember and that’s when I really appreciate my passion and also the handwork that went into creating every single post. I cook on a whim and I am very bad at following instructions when it comes to cooking. So a quick glance at the ingredients used is all I need to recreate the magic that I created few days or months or years back! From time to time, Monsoon Spice has helped me a lot in deciding the last minute menu or party menu and I hope that I can say the same thing few years down the line!

While some recipes need referring, there are some which you will be able to cook even in your sleep! Ok, a slight exaggeration but I just wanted to make a point about some really easy-peasy recipes that uses few ingredients followed by some simple cooking technique. Something like today’s Tomato and Garlic Thokku. There are just few ingredients used in keeping the recipe as simple as possible. But don’t be fooled by the minimal number of ingredients as they not only help in retaining the flavour of the two main star ingredients, tomato and garlic, but also helps in enhancing their flavour to bring out the best taste!

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku

The cumin seeds are not roasted or used in tempering (tadka), but is added almost at the end of cooking and thus lends a nice subtle flavour. The only source of heat or spice is red chilli powder but I also added a small spoonful of red chilli flakes as I like to bite into chilli seeds. The use of sugar is optional and my mom and I usually add little spoonful of sugar to balance the sourness from tomatoes. But if you are using sweet tomatoes, you can just leave it out. My mother sometimes adds 1 inch piece of Cinnamon and 2-3 Cloves to enhance the aroma and also for little different flavour. The oil used in the recipe may look little more than required but it helps in preserving the Tomato and Garlic Thokku for a long time. The more you use, the longer is the shelf life. I usually use around 2 tbsp of oil as in our case the Thokku doesn’t last for more than a week’s time.

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku

This Tomato and Garlic Thokku is wonderfully delicious and goes well with dosas, idli, chapatti, or with any Indian flat bread. You can also serve it as dip for crisps, papads or nachos as a starter or finger food or serve it as a topping for bruschetta. I use this Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku as Sandwich spread and filling for veggie wraps with few salad leaves and it also makes a wonderful salad dressing. Don’t be fooled by just a handful of ingredients as this Tomato and Garlic Thokku is one of THE best condiments I have tasted in a long time. My Amma’s recipe once again proved that less is definitely more!

Juicy red tomatoes for Tomato and Garlic Thokku 

Garlic for Tomato and Garlic Thokku

Ingredients for Tomato and Garlic Thokku

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku

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Tomato and Garlic Thokku (Spicy tomato and garlic chutney/relish for any Dosa, Idli or any Indian flat breads)
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Medium to High
Makes: About 2 cups
Recipe Source: My Amma
Shelf Life: 2-3 weeks when refrigerated in an air tight container
Serving Suggestion: With dosa, idli, chapatti or any Indian flat bread (read notes)

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Ingredients:
8 large or 3½ - 4 cups Tomato, roughly chopped
1 Garlic Pod, peeled and thinly sliced (About 1- 1¼ heaped tbsp)
1 tsp Sugar/Jaggery (Optional but recommended)
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
2-4 tbsp Oil

Spices Used:
1½ -2 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust as per taste)
½ tsp Red Chilli Flakes (Optional)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku ~ Spicy tomato and garlic chutney/relish for Dosa, Idli or any Indian flat breads

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and hing. When mustard seeds start to pop and splutter, add sliced garlic and fry it till the edges start to brown, about 1-1½ minutes, on medium flame.
2. Mix in chopped tomatoes along with sugar or jaggery. Let it cook on medium flame, stirring occasionally, till the tomatoes turn mushy and releases its juice, about 5 minutes.
3. Add salt to taste along with red chilli powder and let it cook for another 5-7 minutes on medium flame. By now the Thokku should start to look like little watery jam.
4. Add raw cumin seeds and chilli flakes and keep stirring for another 3-5 minutes or until the Tomato and Garlic Thokku start to thicken.
5. Switch off the flame and let the spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku comes to room temperature. Once cooled, store it in an air tight jar or container, preferably glass one and pop it in a fridge.
6. Serve this delicious Tomato and Garlic Thokku with any idli, dosa, chapatti, rice or with any Indian flat bread.

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku served with soft Idlis

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Sia’s Notes:

• This Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku is wonderfully delicious and goes well with dosas, idli, chapatti, or with any Indian flat bread. You can also serve it as dip for crisps, papads or nachos as a starter or finger food or serve it as a topping for bruschetta. I use this Spicy Tomato and Garlic Thokku as Sandwich spread and filling for veggie wraps with few salad leaves and it also makes a wonderful salad dressing.
• My mother sometimes adds 1 inch piece of Cinnamon and 2-3 Cloves to enhance the aroma and also for little different flavour.
• The oil used in the recipe may look little more than required but it helps in preserving the Tomato and Garlic Thokku for a long time. The more you use, the longer is the shelf life. I usually use around 2 tbsp of oil as in our case the Thokku don’t last for more than a week’s time.
• The cumin seeds are not roasted or used in tempering (tadka), but is added almost at the end of cooking and thus lends a nice subtle flavour.
• The only source of heat or spice is red chilli powder but I also added a small spoonful of red chilli flakes as I like to bite into chilli seeds.
• The use of sugar is optional and my mom and I usually add little spoonful of sugar to balance the sourness from tomatoes. But if you are using sweet tomatoes, you can just leave it out.