Tamate Ji Chutney For AlifBe ~ 8

We are now at the 8th alphabet in The AlifBe series!
AlifBe of Sindhi Food is a series of blog posts where I proceed alphabetically, as per Arabic Sindhi Alphabet ( AlifBe) and I share a corresponding Sindhi Vegetarian dish, the name of which starts with the same letter of the alphabet.
So not only we learn a new alphabet every time, but also the pronunciation of each consonant, recipe of a dish and some interesting facts too. I also share short videos about the formation of each consonant i.e how to write it in Arabic Sindhi.
And if you do not want to miss any alphabet or a recipe, then please do subscribe to the blog or you can join me @ Facebook or Instagram too!
So far we have covered 7 alphabets and today the 8th one is  ٽ  in Arabic Sindhi, ट  in Devanagari while in Roman Sindhi it is written as ‘T‘ as in Table, Tomatoes, Tablet etc.
And a Sindhi dish that starts with T is Tamate Ji Chutney, a relish made from ripe tomatoes!

To understand how it is written in Arabic Sindhi you can check this small video I have made!

I always assumed that the Sindhi style Tomato Chutney is sweet as that’s how it was made at my home and around!
Then I came across Santosh Asnani whose restaurant ‘Climax of Flavors’ had Koki with Tomato chutney on the menu. It was then that I came to know that Sindhis make savory tomato chutney (will share that recipe too, soon!) and that the sweet relish is actually less popular than savory!
For years I kept searching for the recipe of sweet tomato chutney that my (late) mom used to make. I could only recollect that she would not puree or blend or sieve cooked tomatoes. The chutney would be salted, sweet, slightly tangy and had bit of heat from red chilli powder as well and one can easily spot seeds of tomatoes and kalonji in a spoon full.
And I shared my memories @SindhiRasoi FB Group  and that’s when I got some relevant recipe tips to make the tomato relish, Sindhi style.

So thanks to Rachna Nainani and Pinky Panjabi, I was able to figure out the recipe I was looking for!

I made a very small batch of it since I was not sure how it would taste but I am so glad that I tried the recipe as the flavors were bang on! The chutney tasted exactly like the way I remember it, from the bygone era!

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Tamate Ji Chutney For AlifBe ~ 8

Rating  5.0 from 1 reviews

A sweet chutney made from ripe tomatoes flavoured with cinnamon and Bayleaves

Ingredients

• 4 ripe tomatoes
• ½ cup of Sugar
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 inch or less dalchini (Cinnamon)
• 1 Kamalpatt (Tejpatta)
• 1 and half tsp Basri Ja Bhij (Kalonji/ Nigella seeds)
• ½ tsp red chilli powder (or as per taste)
• Salt
• A litre of water

Method

1. Rinse well, 4 large ripe tomatoes and either make a crisscross slit or cut each tomato in 4 quarters.
2. In a pressure cooker add a litre of water and drop tomatoes. Close the lid and cook under pressure for one whistle.Put off the flame.
3. Once the pressure subsides, remove tomatoes and allow them to cool a touch. Reserve the water
4. Peel off the skin of tomatoes and discard. Mash tomatoes a little.
5. In a pan or a kadai, add a tsp of oil and add boiled tomatoes, salt, sugar, Nigella seeds and mix well.
6. Keep mashing tomatoes. I remember my mother making a chunkier version but if you prefer smoother texture then mash tomatoes thoroughly.
7. Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium flame and once tomatoes are mushy enough, add cinnamon and tejpatta along with red chilli powder.
8. Cook further for approximately 10 more minutes or till the chutney gets a shine/glaze.
9. In case the chutney is denser than required or if tomatoes are not well cooked yet, do add a cup or so of the reserved water (in which tomatoes were boiled) and cook further.
10. Adjust the seasoning. Can add more salt/ chilli powder or even sugar if needed. Mine was just enough sweet. Mix well till the added seasoning is well incorporated. Switch off the flame.
11. Allow it to cool down and then store in a clean jar, preferably a glass jar.
12. This chutney stays good for few days in refrigerator.
13. You can add a tsp or so of vinegar, just before switching off the flame, if you wish to store the chutney for longer duration or if you have cooked a larger portion!

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