Tomato charu (Tomato rasam)

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 1/2 tbsps of oil

1/2 tsp of mustard seeds

1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

2-3 green chillies

few curry leaves

2 tsps of toasted sesame seeds powder

1/2 tsp of red chilli powder

2-3 cups of water

coriander leaves

salt to taste

Procedure:

1)First we need to cook the tomatoes till they are soft and kind of pure.

2)In a medium size saucepan add chopped tomatoes, 1/3 tsp of salt and 1/2 cup of water, cook it for around 10 minutes on medium flame. (make sure that the tomatoes are completely cooked)

[If the tomatoes are not tangy you can use little tamarind while cooking the tomatoes.]

3)Add 2 cups of water to the cooked tomatoes and extract the juice from it, set it aside.

[You can use the pulp if you like but i am not using pulp in this recipe.]

4)Now heat oil, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, wait until mustard seeds splatter, add green chillies, turmeric powder and curry leaves.

5)Stir in the extracted tomato juice and bring it to boil. Then add red chilli powder, sesame seed powder, salt and coriander leaves, simmer it for around 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with plain rice, mudha pappu and papads. 

Mamidikaya pachadi(mamidikaya thokku)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of toasted mustard seeds powder
2 tsps of toasted sesame seeds powder
1/2 tsp of toasted cumin seeds powder
1 tsp of toasted coriander seeds powder
3 tsps of chilli powder
1/3 tsp of toasted fenugreek seeds powder
2 tsps of salt
1 medium size row mango, cut into small pieces 
5-6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 

To Temper:
2 tbsps of oil
1/3 tsp of mustard seeds
1/3 tsp of cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, crushed
pinch of turmeric powder

Procedure:

In a non reacting bowl add all the ingredients except row mango pieces, mix them all together and keep it aside.
Now for tempering, heat oil then add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, wait untill they splatter, now add crushed garlic and turmeric powder.
Fry them and turn off the flame, let it cool down.
Add the tempering to the spices mixture, then keep it aside for around 30 minutes.
Now add the row mango pieces to the mixture and mix well.
Cover it and keep it aside for around 24 hours.
Check the seasoning and adjust salt if needed, transfer it into the dry airtight container and store it at room temperature.
It can be used as a condiment for dal rice, idli , dosa , paratha etc.

Namak para

Ingredients:
2 cups of maida flour(all purpose flour)
1 tbsp of ghee(clarified butter)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/3 tsp of carom seeds
1/3 tsp of cumin seeds(optional)
oil to deep fry

Procedure:
In a wide bowl add maida flour, salt, cumin seeds and carom seeds.
Heat ghee, add it to the flour and mix till it is nicely mixed into the flour.
Now add little water at a time and make a soft dough just like chapati dough, keep it aside for around 10-15 minutes.
Knead the dough for a minute then divide the dough into 5 or 6 equal portions.
Take one dough boll and roll it out into a circle( it should not be very thick or very thin), cut it into diamond shape pieces with the help of knife. Repeat the same process for the remaining dough bolls.
Heat oil and deep fry the pieces on both sides evenly till they are light brown in colour.(fry them in batches and on medium flame to get even colouring)
Remove them onto the paper towel and allow them to cool down  completely. Store in an air tight container.