Tomato Pickle Recipe | Tomato Pachadi | Cook Click N Devour!!! (2024)

Tomato pickle recipe or Andhra tomato pachadi is a traditional pickle recipe made with season’s fresh tomatoes. The traditional method for making pickle with tomatoes is laborious and takes days of preparation and also access to abundant sunshine.

Here I am sharing an easy and instant method by which you can make tomato pickle in 40 minutes. It stays good for 2-3 months, it is slightly tangy, moderately spiced and very flavorful. Tastes best with steamed rice, curd rice, idli, dosa, paratha. Vegan recipe.

For more condiment recipes please check mango thokku, raw mango pickle, thakkali thokku recipes.

South Indian meals are incomplete without spicy and tangy pickles. Pickle making is a huge part of south Indian cooking and Andhra Pradesh is particularly known for its flavorful pickles and pachadi recipes.

Tomato pickle is one such recipe which is very popularly known as tomato pachadi in Telugu speaking homes. It is one of the nilava pachadi which stays good for even an year. It is a real treat for all pickle lovers and tastes good with almost all dishes. Here is my easy take on the traditional Andhra tomato pachadi with step by step photos. Do try it out!

About Tomato Pachadi Recipe

Tomato pickle recipe is a popular condiment made with tomatoes, red chilli powder, fenugreek seeds and few other spices. There are many ways to make this pickle like adding garlic or asafoetida, few recipes call for curry leaves too.

This tomato pickle tastes delicious and flavorful with strong notes of methi seeds, garlic and turmeric. You can easily vary the ingredients to suit your taste like increasing or decreasing the quantity of garlic or methi seeds. It is commonly called as tomato chutney or pachadi too.

I like to make this pickle really spicy and add oil generously. Adding good amount of oil and spice powders increases the shelf life of any pickle.

Another ingredient used for increasing the shelf life in pickles is tamarind. I usually add a small quantity of tamarind as I make and store this pickle for 2-3 months.

Last week we harvested a good deal of heirloom tomatoes or desi tomatoes from terrace garden and this tasty pickled happened with those ripe fresh tomatoes.

Pickle making is not as hard as it sounds. While there are many complex recipes that take some expertise, this easy tomato pickle recipe is a good one to start if you are a beginner.

It is simple enough to make, not laborious like the traditional method but tastes equally delicious. Also this method of making tomato pickle does not require abundant sunshine as we are not sun drying tomatoes.

The flavor and taste of this Instant tomato pickle is so good and intense just like the traditional recipe and tastes very good with all Indian dishes.

The variety of tomatoes and how tangy they are is the key to decide on amount of spice powders and tamarind. If the tomatoes are very tangy you can use less tamarind and reduce spice powders accordingly. Here I have used desi tomatoes which are tangy enough, so I have used less tamarind.

It is important to add generous amount of oil and salt to increase the shelf life of any pickle. Try to use good quality sesame oil or gingely oil for pickles.

Do try out this tomato pickle recipe and enjoy. It is

take on traditional recipe

delicious, flavorful & addictive

Vegan recipe

tastes wonderful with rice, idli, dosa.

How To Make Tomato Pickle Recipe

Wash, pat dry and finely chop the tomatoes.

Soak a small ball of tamarind in 1/4 cup warm water and extract thick pulp. You can also use 1/2 tablespoon thick tamarind paste instead of tamarind extract.

Heat a pan or kadai and when hot add mustard seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder and fenugreek seeds. Roast in low flame till the methi seeds change in color and the whole spice mixture turns aromatic. Let cool and grind to a dry powder. If you spice powders like fenugreek powder, mustard powder you can also use them.

In the same kadai add 5 tablespoons sesame oil or gingely oil and heat it. Once hot add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds and let them crackle.

Next add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cook in medium flame for 5-6 minutes.

Once the tomatoes start turning soft, add salt and red chilli powder. Mix everything well and continue to cook in medium flame for 10 minutes. Instead of red chili powder you can also add roasted and powdered red chillies

6. Now once the tomatoes are partly cooked add tamarind paste , jaggery and mix well.

Add the ground spice powder and mix well.

Cook for 12-15 minutes, till the tomato mixture are well cooked and starts to leave out oil.

Additional Seasoning- Sometimes I add this additional seasoning when I have a good stock if garlic.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a small pan. Once the oil is hot add 6 garlic cloves, halved, handful of curry leaves and saute until they crisp up. Add this hot seasoning and mix well.

Finally add 1 tablespoon gingely oil, mix well and remove from flame. Cool thoroughly to room temperature and store in a clean, dry glass bottle or jar. Tomato pachadi is ready to be served. Always use a clean spoon, preferably wooden, to serve pickles. This Andhra tomato pickle will keep well for up to 3 months in refrigerator.

Storage & Serving Suggestions

This pickle keeps well for 2-3 months in refrigerator of stored properly. Always store pickle in a thoroughly clean and dry glass bottles or jars. If you are making a large batch, make sure to store them in small bottles so that other batches remain fresh when you use one.

Use a clean dry spoon, preferably wooden to serve pickle. Keep refrigerated.

Serving– This Andhra tomato pickle tastes very good with all Indian meal. In Andhra Pradesh it is usually mixed with steamed rice, ghee and served with vegetables like potato fry, okra fry or raw banana fry.

This tomato chutney also tastes very good with curd rice, lemon rice, idli, dosa, pongal, paratha too.

Tips To Make Tomato Pickle

Tomato- Traditionally this pickle is made with ripe red desi or heirloom tomatoes that are full of juice and slightly tart. You can easily use any other varieties too like cherry tomatoes. Just rinse well and chop them well.

Oil– Most of the south Indian pickles are made with sesame oil or gingely oil. It has awesome flavor, taste and also natural body coolant. This oil helps to balance the heat from spice powders. If it is not available you can use any cooking oil.

Spice powders– The spice powders used for tomato pickle recipe are ground mustard, methi seeds, red chilies and turmeric. The quantities of these spice powders can be easily altered as per taste.

While I prefer to freshly roast and grind the spice powders for making pickle, you can easily use mustard powder, fenugreek powder, red chilli powder and ground turmeric.

If your tomatoes are very tangy you can use less spice powders and more if they are no sweeter side.

You can make this tomato pickle without adding garlic if you prefer. You can also skip the final seasoning with curry leaves and red chilies.

For making mildly spiced pickle use Kashmiri red chilli powder or byadgi chilli powder. They lend a vibrant color but not overly hot.

The time taken for the tomatoes to dehydrate will vary depending on how juicy your tomatoes are.

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