Stuffed Tomato Curry
- Tomatoes – 6
- Oil for shallow-frying
- Coriander leaves for garnishing
For the stuffing:
- Potatoes – 3 medium
- Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
- Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Turmeric powder – a pinch
- Onion – 1/2 (or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped)
- Garlic – 2 cloves (or 1 teaspoon when finely chopped)
- Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Oil – 1 teaspoon
For the curry:
- Garam masala – a pinch
- Pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
- Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Turmeric powder – a pinch
- Onion – 1/2 (or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped)
- Garlic – 4 cloves (or 1 teaspoon when ground)
- Dry red chilies – 4
- Cinnamon stick – 1
- Cloves – 4
- Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Oil – 2 teaspoons
- Hollow out the tomatoes. With a knife, cut a cone-shaped hole into the tomato from the top, almost touching the base but not piercing it. Take the cone out. Then with a corer, scoop out the tomato pulp.
- Save the tomato pulp in a separate bowl, for later use in the curry.
- Boil the potatoes, till they are soft enough to mash.
- Peel and mash the potatoes.
- Heat oil in a skillet or kadhai. Add cumin seeds and when they splutter, add a teaspoon of finely chopped garlic and two tablespoons of finely chopped onion. Cook on medium heat for a minute, then add the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder. Give the spices a stir.
- Add mashed potatoes and salt to taste.
- Blend the potatoes very well with the fried onions and spices. Switch off the heat after two minutes.
- Stuff the tomatoes with the potato filling.
- Pierce each tomato with a pin all over.
- Heat a shallow non-stick pan coated with some oil.
- Place the tomatoes in a single file on the pan. Cook the stuffed tomatoes covered on medium heat, turning the tomatoes around every other minute, till they are lightly browned evenly on all sides.
- While turning, take care not to break the tomatoes. Drizzle a little more oil while cooking if the tomatoes stick to the pan.
- Take the pan-fried tomatoes off the pan.
- In a non-stick pan, heat two teaspoons of oil. When hot, add cumin seeds and coriander seeds. As soon as the cumin seeds have crackled and the coriander seeds changed to a darker color, add dry red chilies, cinnamon stick and cloves. Stir them around for a few seconds, then add a teaspoon of garlic paste and two tablespoons of finely chopped onions.
- Cook on medium heat till the onions turn translucent.
- To the pan, add the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, pepper powder. Give the spices a stir.
- Add the tomato pulp saved from the earlier step, to the pan. Cook on high heat, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes.
- Smoothly mash the leftover potatoes after filling the tomatoes along with half a cup of water. Transfer this to the pan with curry.
- Pour in more water if you want the curry thinner. Add salt to taste.
- Cook everything together for 6-7 minutes on low flame, covered, stirring every other minute.
- Give the curry a good stir, and then place the pan-fried stuffed tomatoes gently in it.
- Let it simmer for 5 minutes, turning the tomatoes around a few times in between.
- Stuffed tomato curry is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
