Stuffed Tomatoes
Hello friends, my apologies for not writing since so long. Many things were happening on the home front, and everyday I thought I will get back to zzaika, but something or the other kept me very busy. I tried using the audio to text convertor to write my recipes, but somehow, my Indian ( or british) accent was not so well accepted by the tool and so I had to drop that idea. Finally after much coaxing by my husband, I am back to zzaika and plan to keep you updated with my latest experiments in my kitchen.
This recipe is one of my all time favourites. Before marriage I was in my hometown (Nagpur! :) :) ) , there was a particular restaurant, where we used to love going for lunch/dinner. I used to love this dish there and always wanted to try it. Here it is my dear readers, perfectly like the one I used to relish.
Ingredients
Medium sized tomatoes: I prefer campari tomatoes,for their sinfully sweet taste: 8 nos.
For the stuffing:
- Cottage Cheese (Paneer) : 250 gms,
- Potatoes: Boiled and mashed: 1 no.,
- Green chillies: finely chopped: 1 no.,
- Coriander leaves: finely chopped: 2 Tbsps.,
- Cumin powder: 1 Tsp,
- Salt: as per taste
For the gravy:
- White Onions: cut and pureed: 2 Big nos.,
- Ginger-garlic paste: 2 Tbsp,
- Core of the tomatoes : This is the inside flesh of the tomato. Remove it when making the tomatoes completely hollow from inside and puree it.
- Red chilly powder: Use the Kashmiri red chilly powder, not the regular one. This chilly powder is milder in taste as compared to the regular one but has much deeper color: 1 Tsp,
- Turmeric powder: 1 Tsp,
- Coriander Powder: 1 Tsp,
- Clove Powder: 1/4 Tsp,
- Bay leaf: 2 nos.,
- Black cardamom: 1 no.,
- Cumin seeds: 1/2 Tsp,
- Heavy Cream: 1 Tbsp,
- Salt: as per taste,
- Cooking Oil: 2 Tbsp.
- Coriander leaves : for garnishing,
- Ginger juliennes ( roughly grated ginger).
Method:
Getting the tomatoes ready:
- Take the tomatoes and cut the stem of the tomatoes.
- Now insert a knife and angling it inwards, try to remove most of the core (flesh) from the tomato. Keep this aside in a bowl.
- Now add the paneer, mashed potatoes and rest of the ingredients given above for making the stuffing.
- Stuff this mixture in the tomatoes made in the first step.
For the gravy:
- Heat oil in a wok and once it is hot enough, add the cumin seeds.
- When the cumin seeds begin to sputter, add the ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute till it gives a nice fragrance.
- Now add the bay leaves, black cardamom, and saute for another minute.
- Add the pureed onions and cook them till translucent.
- Once slightly cooked , add the pureed core of tomatoes.
- Cook till it starts leaving oil on the sides of the wok.
- Add the remaining spices. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Once the paste is cooked, cool it and then grind it to a fine paste using a blender. This gives a very smooth texture to the gravy and mixes the spices very well.
- Now again take the ground gravy in the wok and cook for a minute. Add the heavy cream and mix it well.
- If the gravy is too thick, you can add some water and then let it simmer till the desired consistency is achieved.
- Now add the stuffed tomatoes and cook on low heat till the tomatoes become soft and and can be cut easily with a spoon.
- Once properly cooked , garnish with coriander leaves and ginger juliennes.
Stuffed tomatoes are ready! Serve them with naan or parathas.
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