Tomato curry recipe – sharing a step by step recipe of spiced & lightly tangy tomato curry from the Goan cuisine. A vegan recipe.
This recipe of tomato curry has coastal flavors of ground coconut and spices. a family recipe I have been making for many years now. My mom’s special tomato curry which goes well with rice or chapathi or rotis.
When there are no veggies in the kitchen, I prepare this vegan tomato curry along with steamed rice. Curry and rice is a meal I have grown up with. So for me when its curry with rice, I don’t need anything else.
This tomato curry recipe is similar to the Goan curry with mix vegetables, I had posted earlier. Just that there are tomatoes in this curry that make the curry lightly tangy. As the tanginess of the tomatoes, is balanced by the subtle sweetness of the coconut and the heat from the spices and red chilies. Also cumin seeds are not added in this one.
I don’t make this curry hot or spicy. Hence I have added Kashmiri red chilies, which give a bright red color and are mild in heat. In fact, we always make this curry with dry Kashmiri red chilies. Depending on the type of dry red chilies, the taste and flavor of the curry will change from being a bit smoky to hot.
Like most of the coconut based curries, this tomato curry also goes well with some steamed rice or chapati. Accompany a light side vegetable salad or a pickle by the side. You can also have some stir-fried or pan-fried vegetable dish, by the side.
How to make tomato curry
1. Take all the ingredients to be ground in a wet grinder jar – chopped tomatoes, broken red chilies, garlic, coconut, coriander seeds, chopped onion, whole black pepper and turmeric powder.
2. Add 3 tbsp water and grind to a smooth fine paste. There should be no small chunks or pieces of coconut in the masala paste. Keep the ground paste aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan or pot. add mustard seeds and crackle. then add cumin seeds & saute till they get browned.
4. Add some chopped onions and saute till translucent.
5. then add curry leaves, dry red chilies and asafoetida/hing. Stir.
6. Add chopped tomatoes.
7. Saute the tomatoes for 3 minutes on a low flame.
8. Add the ground tomato-coconut-spices masala paste.
9. Stir and saute for 1 to 2 minutes on a low flame.
10. Add water.
11. Season with salt.
12. Bring to a complete boil first without a lid. Then simmer the curry on a low flame, again without a lid.
13. Simmer till you see oil floating on top of the curry. About 12 to 15 minutes on a low flame after the first boil. Stir the curry at intervals.
14. Garnish the curry with coriander leaves. Serve the tomato curry with steamed rice or jeera rice or chapathi.
More Curry recipes
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Tomato Curry
Ingredients
for the tomato-coconut-spices paste
- ½ cup tightly packed chopped tomatoes
- 2/3 cup tightly packed grated fresh coconut or ½ cup tightly packed chopped fresh coconut
- 2 to 3 small to medium garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1.5 tablespoon chopped onion or shallots
- 4 to 5 kashmiri dry red chilies - broken and seeds removed if you prefer
- 5 whole black pepper - optional
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 tablespoon water for grinding the masala paste
remaining ingredients for curry
- ½ to ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes for sauteing
- 1 tablespoon chopped onion
- 2 dry red chilies - stalks removed
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 6 to 7 curry leaves
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- 2 tablespoon oil
- few coriander leaves for garnish (optional)
- salt as required
Instructions
making paste
- Rinse and chop the onions, garlic and tomatoes.
- Break the dry red chilies and deseed them if you prefer.
- Grate the coconut and keep aside. You can also chop the coconut into small pieces.
- Take all the ingredients to be ground in a wet grinder jar - chopped tomatoes, broken red chilies, garlic, coconut, coriander seeds, chopped onion, whole black pepper and turmeric powder.
- Add water and grind to a smooth fine paste. There should be no small chunks or pieces of coconut in the masala paste. Keep the ground paste aside.
making tomato curry
- Heat oil in a pan or pot. Add mustard seeds and crackle them.
- Then add cumin seeds. Saute till they browned. Add onions and saute till translucent
- Then add curry leaves, dry red chilies and asafoetida/hing.
- Stir and then add tomatoes. Saute them for 3 minutes.
- Add the ground masala paste and saute for 1 to 2 mins, stirring often
- Then add 3 cups water. Season with salt.
- Bring to a complete boil first without a lid. Then simmer the curry on a low flame, again without a lid. Stir the curry at intervals.
- Simmer till you see oil floating on top of the curry. About 12 to 15 minutes on a low flame after the first boil.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve tomato curry hot with steamed rice or chapathi or jeera rice.
Notes
- About 1 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves can also be added while grinding the masala paste.
Hi, I’ve been cooking from your blog since 2013 and love it. I’m going to start trying some recipes like this one that has coconut. Can I use coconut powder if that’s all I have? If so, how much?
Hi Nicole, good to know and thanks for sharing that. Yes of course, in any recipe that has fresh coconut, you can easily substitute with coconut powder or unsweetened desiccated coconut. In this recipe you can add about ⅓ cup of coconut powder.
Thank you! Off to cook 🙂
Welcome and I hope you liked the dish.