Tomato Pickle (Andhra Style)

I feel couple of years of stay in Hyderabad really helped me to enrich my cooking expertise.My colleagues used to get yummy yummy tomato pickle/thokku and I used to enjoy during my lunch time. Though the ingredients used in this pickle are more or less same, people do prepare this pickle in different ways.After getting two to three different  versions of pickle recipe from friends/neighbors, did some experiment !!!
Of course, would like to share the outcome with you all ...
Here we go ...."special version of tomato pickle from Prameela's Kitchen" :-)

Try and Please get back to me with your feedback.

Ingredients :

15-16 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
7-8 dry red chilly(for powder)+ 1 dry red chilly split into half(for seasoning)
6-8 curry leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tsp + 3 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
salt to taste

How To Prepare?

• Wash and wipe the tomatoes. Chop them into thin slices.
  
• Heat 1 tsp of oil in kadai/pan.Add chopped tomatoes to it.
  
• Saute for few mins.Add tamarind paste and give a quick stir. Let it cook by covering a lid. Keep checking in between to avoid burning.
• You should cook them until tomatoes become super soft. Allow it to cool down completely.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• In another pan dry roast methi,1/2 tsp mustard and dry red chilly separately.Allow it to cool down.
  
• Add all the dry roasted ingredients in a mixer jar and grind them into a fine powder.
  
• Add cooled sauteed tomatoes into the same jar on top of ground powder.Grind everything together into a smooth paste.
  
  
  
• Now add enough salt and mix it nicely or grind them for a 30 secs.
  
  
  
  
• Now comes the seasoning part, heat 3 tbsp of oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. After mustard seeds crackle add curry leaves, red chilly and asafoetida.Fry them for few secs. 
  
• Now add ground paste on top of seasoning.Stir the pickle for a min and switch off the flame.
  
  
  
  
• Store it in a air tight container after it cools down completely and refrigerate it. Goes well with rice and chapati.
  

Tips:

• You can use any tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes.
• The above recipe makes only 5-6 tbsp of pickle !! .Please increase the ingredients accordingly if you want to prepare it in a large scale.
• You can also add salt and chilly powder at the end to adjust.