In a pan, dry roast the mustard for grinding until it sputters and keep aside, next add in the fenugreek seeds (dont let it brown too much ) remove it from heat cool it down and grind to a find powder
Take a wide pan, add the canned tomatoes or chopped tomatoes, add some salt and cook it down until it turns soft and mushy.
Next add in the spice powders, turmeric, red chilli powder and the tamarind extract, salt and cook it down until the raw flavours are gone and the tomatoes absorb most of the moisture and has thickened.
In a kadai, add oil, add mustard seeds allow it to sputter, add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and garlic pods (optional).
Now add in the prepared seasoning to the tomato pickle.
Cook on medium flame and stir occasionally to avoid burning and cook until the pickle turns Rich red and thicker. We want the pickle to have lesser moisture so it last longer.
To balance the sharpness of the tomatos you can add a tsp if brown sugar. You can totally skip it if you find the taste fine.l, do one final check for salt and turn off the flame.
Cool it off completely and transfer to a clean dry glass or a ceramic jar.
Enjoy this pickle with dosa, idli, or any rice dish of your choice.
Notes
1.We will be adding only 1 tsp of the ground mixture to the pickle the remaining powder can be used for making pulikuzhambu or vethakozhambu or stored for later use.2.You can use whole tomatoes as well. Will be about 7-8 tomatoes finely chopped
Keyword indian condiments, instant recipes, pickles, tomato pickle