Preparations:

Select tomatoes which are a bit raw, firm & fleshy. Wash & dry tomatoes. Cut each tomato into eight pieces. Similarly cut all the tomatoes into pieces and take them into a dry bowl. Add turmeric powder and salt to the tomato pieces and mix well. While mixing squeeze the tomato pieces to make them soft and release some juice. Transfer the tomato pieces along with the juice to a ceramic or glass bowl and cover it. Keep the tomato bowl in a dry place for two days (48 hours). On the third day squeeze the tomato pieces and separate from the juice. Spread the squeezed tomato pieces in a plate. To the tomato juice, add tamarind and allow it to soak. Place the juice bowl and tomato pieces plate under sun and dry them. Cover the juice bowl with a slotted plate to avoid dust falling into it. Dry the tomato pieces till they turn crisp—this may take two or three days, depending upon solar intensity. When the tomato pieces are dried till crisp then we can start preparing the pickle.

Method:

First we need to prepare fenugreek seeds powder. Heat a pan and add the fenugreek seeds and fry them. While frying the fenugreek seeds stir to fry evenly. Fry the seeds on low flame only to ensure even browning. If you feel the low flame heat is also high for the seeds taken, remove the pan in-between  from heat and stir fry. The heat of the pan will be sufficient to roast the fenugreek seeds. A roasted seed when crushed with a heavy object, insides of the seed should appear evenly browned. Till you get the desired level fry the seeds stirring on low flame. Take a dry mixie jar and add the roasted fenugreek seeds and grind to make a fine powder.

Squeeze and remove the tamarind from the juice. Spread the tamarind in a plate and remove the seeds and pith if any. Take the tamarind into a mixie jar and grind to smooth paste. If required add some juice for easy grinding of the tamarind. Add this tamarind paste to the juice and mix well. Now add the dried tomato pieces to the mixie jar and crush them coarsely—this coarse crushing adds some texture and taste to the pickle. Add this coarsely crushed tomato pieces to the juice and mix well. Now add the red chili powder and roasted fenugreek seeds powder to the juice and mix well. The pickle is ready for seasoning.

Seasoning:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When oil is hot add the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and fry stirring. By the time the mustard seeds crackle fully fenugreek seeds change color. Then add the red chili pieces and asafoetida. Before the red chilies turn dark in color add the seasoning to the prepared pickle and mix well. Keep this pickle aside for two hours and then serve. The bitterness of the fenugreek seeds powder gets balanced with the tamarind-tomato juice and tastes better after two hours. Serve with plain hot rice and ghee. This pickle also tastes better when served with dosa, utappam, pesarattu, Curd rice etc. It tastes wonderful when spread on a toasted bread and served.

Green Tomato Pickle:

Ingredients, measurements and procedure are same as the above. Instead of coarsely crushing the dried tomato pieces add them as pieces itself in this variation. Green tomatoes are more firm so when cut into pieces and added to the pickle as pieces they retain shape. The same pickle with a small variation gives a new taste to the pickle. on our tongues