Tomato Nilava Pachadi Recipe

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Recipe for authentic Andhra style tomato pachadi/ uragaya. This spicy and delicious recipe is perfect to make even in cold weather regions. Yummy accompaniment to any Indian meal.

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We love Indian style spicy chutneys and pickles in our family. Even the kids have slowly started trying the spicy ones recently. They are great to serve with plain rice, idli or dosa or upma.

My mom usually makes sure that we have at least 6 months worth of pickle supply. But due to the pandemic this year, we did not get our fresh stock. So, I made them myself with expert advice from mom, of course.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw my spicy avakaya post. In addition I also made lemon and this authentic Andhra style tomato pickle.

Sun drying vs Oven baking

Traditionally tomato nilava pachadi or achar is made by sun drying salted fresh tomatoes. This process removes the moisture from the tomatoes and helps in storing the pickle for months.

But in cold weather countries it is climatically not feasible to sun dry anything even in summer. So, after a bit of trial and error, my mom and I have come up with this oven baking method.

This is our tried and tested method of making authentic tomato uragaya pachadi without sun drying. Baking in a low heat gives the same effect as traditional drying in the sun.

Try this method, you will be surprised how effective oven is. No more waiting for sunny summer because you can simulate it any time all through the year.

How to make Tomato Uragaya

This recipe has 2 parts:

1. Making the Tomato concentrate – takes 3~4 days to make and can be stored for at least 6~8 months in the refrigerator.
2. Adding tempering to concentrate – take out about 1 month worth of concentrate (1~2 cups) and add tempering. This way you can add tadka whenever you want and the pickle will taste fresh longer*.

* Oil might become stale after sometime, which results in the pickle losing its flavor.

Ingredients

First and foremost you need nice, ripe tomatoes. I prefer and recommend using vine-ripened tomatoes for this recipe. Here’s an article talking about from SFgate on how they differ from others.

Other varieties that you can use are beefsteak or roma.

The other ingredients you need to make the concentrate are:

• Salt – my mom uses rock salt, but I use regular table salt. You can use kosher salt, if you like.
• Indian style Red chili powder – look for chili powder especially to make pickles. This is brighter red in color but not as hot and spicy – similar to Kashmiri chili powder.
• Tamarind – adds tang and balances all the other flavors. Make sure that there are no seeds in the tamarind you use.
• Ground fenugreek (methi) seeds – dry roast them until they turn slightly darker. Then cool and grind to a powder.

When ready to serve, here is what you need:

• Tomato concentrate (from above)
• Peanut or gingelly (sesame) oil – I think pickles taste best when cooked in either of theses oils. But feel free to use any light flavored oil like vegetable or canola.
• Mustard seeds – I use Andhra style small mustard seeds.
• Garlic cloves

Instructions

The tomato pickle concentrate recipe takes 3+ days to make which is about 2 days shorter than the more traditional sun drying method. This recipe makes a spicy, tangy concentrate that can be stored for at least 6 months.

Prepping

Start off my thoroughly washing and drying the tomatoes. They should be completely dry. Chop and place them in a large glass or ceramic container.

Salting

Add salt, mix well with a wooden spoon. Cover and set aside for 48 hours ie 2 days. After 24 hours, mix once to make sure that all of the pieces are evenly coated with salt.

Draining and baking

After 48 hours, salt draws out the water from the tomatoes and the mixture will be quite liquidy. Drain the mixture into a sieve set over a large bowl.

Leave the tomatoes in the strainer for at least 1 hour for all the liquid to drain. Reserve all of the soaking liquid.

Pour the soaking liquid into a glass or ceramic bowl and add tamarind to it and let it soak for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Place the drained tomato slices onto a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet.

Bake the tomatoes for 2-2½ hours or until the slices appear to be dry. They do not have to be very dry. The main is to take as much moisture out of the tomato as possible and this simulates traditional sun-drying process.

After about an hour, place the soaking liquid in the oven along with the tomatoes and bake for another 1 hour. Remove baking sheet and the bowl from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

Once the tomatoes and the liquid are completely cooled, cover and set them aside overnight separately.

Make the spicy concentrate

Next day, combine the tomatoes and the tamarind liquid. Blend them into a smooth paste. Pour this into a glass bowl and add red chili powder, ground fenugreek and mix well.

Your spicy tomato pickle concentrate is ready. This is a good time to taste it. Add more chili powder or ground fenugreek or salt as needed to make sure it tastes perfect. Transfer this into clean, sterilized glass mason jars and refrigerate until ready to use.

I make a big bath of this concentrate (about 6 cups) and keep it in the fridge. It keeps well for at least 6~8 months. I take about 2 cups of the concentrate at a time and keep the rest in the fridge.

To Serve

Typically, Andhra pachadi recipes include tempering. You can add tempering to the whole batch of tomato uragaya but I prefer tempering in batches. This keeps the pickle tasting fresh longer.

Heat some oil, add mustard seeds and once they start to splutter turn off the heat. Add coarsely chopped garlic, if desired and set aside for a few minutes. Pour this into the pickle, mix well and serve.

Taste Test

I love having a jar of this spicy and addictive tomato nilava pachadi always in the fridge. It is great to serve with rice with a generous drizzle of ghee. And even with dosa, idli or upma.

Expert Tips

• Use either glass or ceramic bowls or containers to make the recipe. Salt and acid in the recipe might corrode metal bowls.
• Make sure that everything that touches the pickle is completely dry. If not, the moisture will cause the formation of mold. Keep the bowl away from any water source.
• The concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6~8 months.
• Tempered tomato pachadi can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month.
• Any light flavored oil like vegetable or canola can be used instead of peanut/ sesame oil.
• Make sure to taste the concentrate before placing in the fridge.

Few more pickle recipes to try

• Green tomato pachadi
• Instant mango pickle
• Sri Lankan eggplant pickle (Wambatu moju)