Tomatillo Pickle | Pachi Tomato Pachadi

Pickles & Chutneys are a must for any Indian meal. South Indian style pickles are spicy, tangy, pungent & flavorful. The preparation might vary from state to state, still they are delicious in their own way. Pickles have a longer shelf life than chutneys & can be made ahead of time & store them as needed. I prefer refrigerating pickles, but my mom believes in no refrigerating as it reduces a little taste to them. 

I love experimenting pickles with different veggies & when I came across tomatillo's at a local grocery store I just couldn't resist make a pickle out of them. They are sour in taste & are perfect to pickle them. Tomatillo's are kind of green tomatoes, but little juicier than the green tomatoes. They can be replaced with green or red tomatoes. Green tomatoes are widely available in India & rarely you can find them in US too. 

Prep Time-10mins 

Cook Time-30mins
Serves-4 to 5people
Pairs well with rice.

Ingredients

1Kg green tomatoes/tomatillo's sliced
1Tbs size tamarind
4Tbs oil

Tempering/Popu/Tadka
4Tbs oil 
1Tbs mustard 

Few curry leaves
5Garlic pods chopped

4Red chili's cut broken into half
1Tsp hing 

1/4Cup red chili powder {extra hot}

2Tbs menthi podi / methi powder
Salt to taste 
Directions

- Heat a wide pan with oil. Add in chopped tomatoes & tamarind. Cook them till they are soft. Switch off heat & allow tomatoes to cool.
- Once tomatoes are cool grind them coarsely.  

- Heat pan with oil. To that add in red chili's, mustard, chopped garlic & curry leaves. Once the garlic turns to light brown in color add in hing, methi powder & red chili powder.
- Fry for 2 seconds & add in the tomato paste to pan along with enough salt. Mix them well while cooking on low heat.
- Once the mixture comes together switch off heat. Adjust salt if needed.

-  Allow pickle to cool before serving or before transferring to a container.
Note

- Don't cook tomatoes with a closed lid.
- If you like a chunky pickle then don't grind cooked tomatoes.
- I used an extra spicy chili powder as mentioned above. Adjust the chili powder according to your taste & the quantity might vary.