Minty Tomato Baskets in Veggie Gravy – Mom is Cooking
Never knew the worth of mom’s cooking until I started to cook myself. All of a sudden the spices did not impart the same flavors, veggies did not taste as fresh as they did when she cooked with them and there was always something missing in the final recipe. Could not figure out the reason for quite a long time, till I discovered the secret ingredient in all her recipes and that is ‘The love‘ which she pours every time in it when she cooks.
We do differ in many aspects of life and cooking, which include her love for oil and chilly and her ways of parenting. But then such differences are what makes life more spicy and worth living 🙂 And yes I do love you Mom!
My mom is on a cooking spree from when she found out that I write and post recipes..and every day she is dishing out some unusual and scrumptious treats which I don’t remember eating for a long while. My drafts are bursting out with her numerous authentic Rajasthani recipes.
Am glad that I belong to a very colorful and lively city of Rajasthan in India, which is also famous for its exotic & scrumptious regional cuisine. Some of the authentic recipes & food ingredients such as Gunda, Ker Sangari, kachri, Kheej, green Fenugreek seeds are so very unique to this state. And since I shifted to Chennai after my marriage I did not get much chance to cook with these ingredients in my home. My vacation here is a great opportunity to revive those recipes long forgotten.
Mom sitting pretty near her kitchen garden!
This is her favorite place to sit and read newspaper after her daily morning walk to the lakeside near our house. A self made working woman since very early age, has come up in life quite courageously bringing us single handedly after my doctor father’s early demise.
She is quite active now also with her kitchen garden loaded with many local and exotic veggies and flowers. And yes, she never fails to keep an Hawk’s eye when my son plays with his ball in there. Grrr..half of my time goes in sorting out the differences between the grumbling nanny and her stubborn grandson 🙂
The passion for cooking has not dampen yet, she can dish out a scrumptious spread for many in a wink at 70 also! She made this exotic tomato recipe in cauliflower gravy the other day which is quite easy and quick to cook. And can be a great party treat or to impress those special guests who like your cooking.
Ingredients;
(serve 2)
- 4 tomatoes for filling
- 1 cup grated cauliflower
- 1/4 cup fresh peas
- 2 potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 green chilly
- 1′ Ginger
- 4-5 clove Garlic
- 1/2 cup fresh tomato puree
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp. Mint
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1/4 cup of water
Spice mix;
- 1/2 tsp crushed Black pepper
- 1 tsp. red chilly powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp. Turmeric
- Salt to taste
How cute the hollow tomato look!
Method: Wash the tomatoes and the cauliflower. Grate the cauliflower and keep it apart. Chop the top of tomato as shown in the picture and keep the slice for cover. Scoop the inside seeds and pulp of tomato and make it hollow. Boil the potatoes in water, cool and mash it slightly.
Peel the onion and slice it finely. Grind ginger and garlic to a fine paste. Dice the green chilly into fine pieces.
Heat oil in a wok and add sliced onion and fry it till it is translucent in color. Add ginger garlic paste and the diced green chilly fry it for a minute. Pour the tomato puree and all the spice mix into the seasoning and stir fry till the oil floats over the ground masala.
Sizzling in the pan..
Add grated cauliflower, mashed potato, shredded fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves and fresh peas into the gravy and let it fry for another 8-10 minutes.
Take out 1/4 of this cooked gravy to be filled into the hollowed tomato boats. Fill the same in the tomato and cover it with the sliced tomato top.
The inside story!
Add water into the rest of the gravy and let it boil for a minute.Place the filled tomatoes gently into the cooked gravy. Cover it with a lid and cook for just 2 minutes. At this stage you need to flip over the tomatoes taking care that the filling should stay intact into the tomatoes. Cover it and cook for another 2-3 minutes at slow flame.
Blushing beauties!
Garnish the cooked Minty Tomato baskets with fresh coriander and mint leaves. Serve this exotic curry with any Indian flat breads such as Cottage Cheese stuffed Naan, Kulcha, Rumali rotis or chapattis.
Notes;
- She never discard the stalks of cilantro (Dhania) which is more flavorful than the leaves and uses it to garnish her dishes with it.
- The skin of the tomato can be removed before eating, it will come out easily after its cooked.
- Arrange the tomatoes in a baking dish and bake the recipe for about 15 minutes at 200°C. Baking will make the cooking easy and quick and will keep the stuffing intact in the tomatoes.
- You can avoid the mashed potato in the recipe and still get a delicious version of the recipe.
- Cook the recipe on the stove top and then arrange the tomatoes in a baking dish, grill it for 20 minutes. This version will make the tomatoes slightly charred and give a smoky taste.
- The most important tip she gives for the recipe is that use all freshly grind spices if possible. She has a small mortar and pestle and does her grinding in it. Coriander, cumin, peppercorn and aniseed smell wonderful when freshly ground.
Happy Mother’s Day! A small scrumptious tribute to you mom with your recipe Minty Tomato Baskets in Veggie Gravy shared with the world here, thanks for everything, love you.
Happy mother’s day to your mom!
The dish looks really delicious – very nice fresh flavors too…
@Joyti, thanks and same to your mom too!
Aww your mom is so cute 🙂 Happy Mother’s Day and thanks for sharing this lovely recipe!
@Yuri, Thanks Y! Same to your mom too.
Happy Mother’s Day to your mom!
The tomato baskets looks so appetizing and delicious!
@Angie, thanks and same to you too!
Happy Mother’s Day to your mom and you Sanjeeta. Such a lovely post. Still now I keep wondering why my food doesn’t taste as good as my mom’s…most of us think the same way isn’t it?
The tomatoes dunked in the gravy are looking delicious.
Wow! This is a very great recipe! It’s very tempting…Happy Mother’s Day…
Sanjeeta, this post of urs to me is the best. i enjoyed reading it. happy mother’s day. i am going to try this dish soon. looking forward to authetic rajasthani dishes from u
http://www.tastefllyveggie.blogspot.com
@Veena, Thanks, wonders of mom’s cooking! Happy Mother’s Day to you too.
Lovely post – a wonderful tribute to all the love she imparts!
I do not dare even to comment on the tomatoes…cannot shift my eyes to the next line…drooling over the pictures!
@Lata, thanks 🙂
Sanjeeta, nice pic of your mom! Yes, please post the authentic Rajasthani recipes – I’ve tried the Ker Sangri acc to various books, but it always comes out dry, never like a gravy the way I saw it in Rajasthan!
@Sra, Even today when mom made a dish from Kachri I remembered you and your SMS! ..(be my guest) Yes will be posting many soon, draft is bursting with all the Rajasthani recipes 🙂
This recipe looks amazing. I can’t wait to try to make it. Thanks for sharing it..
Mom’s recipes are always special (with her love)..and when a daughter posts it ,it becomes super special (with her love)..lovely post di..Happy Mothers day to you and aunty..just drooling here while reading the names ker sangri,gunda etc..
@Ekta, ..am literally gorging upon Gunda achar and Ker Sangari with Bajre ki Roti 🙂
This is spectacular looking and have a fabulous mothers day!
Oh this looks delicious! Happy Mother’s Day to your beautiful Mom!
Happy Mum’s day and mum’s cooking is the best on earth….this is such a new recipes looks great!
Mmmm…this sounds delicious. And you are so right…love makes everything taste better. Beautiful post 😀
Wow, what a lovely dish. Looks absolutely delectable!
Sanjeeta, loved the yummy dish and the kitchen garden….. Happy Mothers Day to yr evergeen mom….
@Archana, Thanks, she would love the title..evergreen mom 🙂
Happy Mother’s day Sanjeeta! Loved reading your post..
wow those tomato baskets looks awesome!
cute post and love the snap of your mum enjoy your time at home 🙂
Delicious!! This is such an exotic dish for me, I love all the flavours in it!
Delicious tomato baskets.Moms are always inspiring.Happy Mothers Day!
flavourful colourful looks good
Delicious looking!
this looks soooo savory~~ mmmm loved stuffing the tomatoes! great idea 😀
mom is sweet….recipe very new to me but syre sound gud
Your post brings tears to my eyes. There is nothing as peaceful as just sitting by mom. She looks so beautiful and so much at peace with herself and yes mom’s recipes are the best:) I had green methi when i went to Jaipur last time and we had gone to Bala (Ashram). Green Methi subzi and ker pickles were two (there were others) sides to the khichdi. I had come back home and made a similar subzi with aloo and the regular methi seeds as there were no green methi to be found here.
The tomatoes look so good. my MIL makes a stuffed tomato dish, but quite diff. from this one. my in – laws place barely uses ginger, but LOTs of Garlic and onion. Looking forward to visiting India now!
@Soma, thanks for such a lovely comment! Loved all your pictures on FB with your mom. Hari (green) methi tastes a lot different than the yellow one. Later gives a sharp bitter taste. Glad that you enjoy your stay in Jaipur. Historical and colorful place.
This is such an awesome vegetarian dish! I say this because my mom makes something similar : she stuffs chicken mince into tomato boats and bakes them, but this is even better with the gravy and cauliflower – potato stuffing. Simply love it!
@Aqua, thanks for visiting! My friends who eat non veg will love your idea.
Moms are best in the world. Their love, cooked food are always priceless. minty tomato basket looks awesome. Happy mother’s day to you
Wow thats a flavourful and wonderful gravy…fantastic…
Very nice post and very nice recipe too 🙂 Loved the clicks!
Oh lovely post and recipe Sanjeeta. Love the picture of your mom by her favorite place. I want to jump on a plane right now to see my mom 🙁
What a beautiful Mother’s Day post this is! Your mother is a wonderful cook — the tomatoes look delicious!
now this is one recipe i will definitely try out!!!!
I hope you had a great day yesterday…beautiful picture of your mom..
The tomato dish looks really delicious and tempting.
Bharwaan Tamatar- An absolute fav in my family too.But your version looks so healthy.It was nice to read about your mom and you! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe with us.
Nice to know abt you and your mom..tomato grvy looks delicious…
And Belated Happy mother’s day dear.
So I can see now where you get your food talent from 🙂 This is such a wonderful recipe, full of love for sure! I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day with relaxation and beautiful food 🙂
Happy belated Mothers Day, what a wonderful recipe too, making me hungry 🙂
@Anna, thanks and same to you too!
This is such a beautiful post 🙂 I too cannot figure out why their dishes taste so so much better than ours even after following the recipe point by point! They rock .. don’t they 🙂 I have never been to Rajasthan but my hubby birthplace is Jaipur and as soon we shift to India, we decided to make a trip to Rajasthan.. a place I always wanted to visit !!
Look at me .. i get so involved in what you wrote about Rajasthan and your Mom that I forgot to mention that this recipe looks so perfect and I love fresh mint and refreshing flavor it adds to the dish. 🙂
This looks so good, S…..very appetizing and hearty.
The dishes that our moms make are the best aren’t they? Those stuffed tomatoes look delicious!
Magda
These tomatoes are gorgeous & how cute is your mom 🙂
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