The East Indian Tomato Kusondi is a tomato pickle that’s a much lovelier version of the regular Maharastrian tamtar kusandi; using almost the same ingredients, but with a lot more zing.
It’s the perfect accompaniment for lunch or dinner, and can also go well with just bread, pav, chappatis, or toast.
Mom’s version of the tomato kusondi has found it’s way to the UK, Spain and Canada so far. It might make it’s way to a lot more countries in the future. Nope, she doesn’t take orders. It’s just for the cousins.
But if you want to try making it yourself, here’s how to make our traditional East Indian version of the tomato kusondi.
Tomato Kusondi Recipe
Chop 2 kgs of tomatoes into 1 cm or 1.5 cm cubes.
Also chop or grate about 50 grams of ginger, 50 grams of garlic and 15 gms of green chillies coarsely and set aside. In a deep pan, add 500 ml of peanut, mustard or sunflower oil, 25 grams of jeera or cumin, 25 gms of dried kashmiri chillies, and fry well.
Then add in the chopped tomatoes and another 50 grams of garlic, but this bit has to be ground fine. Also add in 25 grams turmeric powder, 150 gms of salt, 1 kg of sugar and 750 ml of vinegar and let the mix simmer for some time.
If you’re not on a gluten free diet, use malt vinegar. If you are living gluten free, use apple cider vinegar. Also, you can swap out equal quantity of sugar for equal quantity of jaggery.
The traditional recipe doesn’t call for it, but my mom always adds in a few sticks of cinnamon, 3 black cardamom, 8 cloves, 100 grams raisins, 200 grams halved mustard (yellow) and 100 grams cashews. The spices and nuts enrich the kusondi quite a ways.
And that’s it, cook for a bit more, leave to cool, bottle and share with friends and family. While bottling for a long time, remember to add a little extra oil to cover the top of the pickle.
Serve it as a side for dal curry, or spread it on toasted bread or chapati, stuff it in pav, or use it as a dip for breadfruit chips or sweet potato chips, or simply with anything else. It’s delicious!
Depending on how much you made, the pickle lasts for a year of so. But given how we eat, nope, not possible. Even the mango pickle gets over quite quickly. So bring on next year, and another chance to make more tomato kusondi.
East Indian Tomato Kusondi (Tomato Pickle)
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Ingredients
- 2 Kilogram Tomatoes Chopped into 1 or 1.5 cm cubes
- 50 g Ginger Grated
- 50 g Garlic Grated
- 50 g Garlic Ground Fine
- 25 g Dried Kashmiri Chillies Pieces
- 25 g Cumin (Jeera) Jeera Powdered
- 15 g Green Chillies – Fresh Cut into halves
- 25 g Turmeric Powder
- 150 g Salt
- 500 milliliter Oil Mustard or Peanut or Sunflower
- 1 Kilogram Sugar Or jaggery
- 675 milliliter Vinegar Malt if regular, Apple Cider if gluten free
- 100 g Yellow Half Mustard
- 100 g Cashewnuts Cut in halves
- 100 g Raisins
- 2 sticks Cinnamon Sticks (Dalchini) 2 inch sticks
- 3 Black Cardamom Pods (Moti Elaichi)
- 8 Cloves (Lavang)
Instructions
- Chop 2 kgs of tomatoes into 1 cm or 1.5 cm cubes.
- Also chop or grate about 50 grams of ginger, 50 grams of garlic and 15 gms of green chillies coarsely and set aside.
- In a deep pan, add 500 ml of peanut, mustard or sunflower oil, 25 grams of jeera or cumin, 25 gms of dried kashmiri chillies, and fry well.
- Then add in the chopped tomatoes and another 50 grams of garlic (that has been ground fine).
- Also add in 25 grams turmeric powder, 150 gms of salt, 1 kg of sugar and 750 ml of vinegar and let the mix simmer for some time. (If you’re not on a gluten free diet, use malt vinegar. If you are living gluten free, use apple cider vinegar. Also, you can swap out equal quantity of sugar for equal quantity of jaggery.)
- Optionally, add in a few sticks of cinnamon, 3 black cardamom, 8 cloves, 100 grams raisins, 200 grams halved mustard (yellow) and 100 grams cashews.
- Cook for a bit more, leave to cool, bottle and share with friends and family.
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Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
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I’m an East Indian foodie and travel blogger from Bombay, India. I love food, wine, and sharing my culture’s ethnic East Indian and traditional Indian recipes. You’ll find more info about me here!
We normally by this from the East Indian Bazaar at the bandra gym. Will try making it this time! Who knows, maybe next year instead of buying, we’ll be selling!
It’s funny! I thought the same thing Martina did. Tomatoes in season. Make kusondi. Good to have the recipe online with pictures. 🙂
Tomatoes are becoming cheaper in the market now. I’m going to make kusondi again and store. Will try your extra spices and raisins this time!