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Quick Sweet-and-Sour Gujarati Tomato Curry

Here is a dish that takes about 10 minutes to prepare. It is ideally made when tomatoes are in season, but even second-rate, out-of-season tomatoes are given a new life by this very Gujarati mixture of seasonings. It may be served at a meal with rice, a bean or split-pea dish, vegetables, and relishes. I also love a meal of this curry, Shrimp Biryani, and Spinach with Garlic and Cumin. If you are cooking Western-style grilled pork chops or chicken pieces, just slather this over the top. The combination is marvelous.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 4¿6

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1/8 teaspoon ground asafetida
1 teaspoon whole black or yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
2 pounds medium-sized tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4–1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

Preparation

  1. Pour the oil into a frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the asafetida, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds in the order listed. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, a matter of seconds, put in the tomatoes. Stir once or twice and add the salt, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir and add 3 tablespoons water. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar and ginger. Taste, and correct balance of seasonings, if needed. Cover and cook another 2–3 minutes.

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Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Buy the full book from Amazon.
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