Andhra-Style Tomato Pickle Recipe

Tomato pickle isn’t too common here in the States. In fact, we’re willing to bet that you’ve only ever come across this tasty treat a couple of times, if any, but in southern India, it’s one of the most popular staples of regional cuisine.

Tangy, a little spicy, and a lot garlicky, tomato pickle is one of our favorite secret culinary weapons we can whip up to wow dinner guests without slaving over a hot stove all day long. And it lasts forever in the fridge, so you can prepare it in batches and enjoy it time and time again. Hooray!

As is the case with most Indian cuisine, there are tons of tomato pickle variations out there, but today, we’re going to be breaking down the best version of all based on the Andhra style. 

What Is The “Andhra Style”?

Andhra Pradesh is one of the 28 states of India. The population of each state has its own take on Indian culture. While there is a common thread that unites the spirit of these locations, they are also distinct from one another in many ways, one being cuisine.

So, when we say that we’ll be preparing an Andhra-style tomato pickle, we mean that we’ll be following principles developed over many years in the Andhra Pradesh region.

Why have we chosen this particular approach? Well, we believe it to be the tastiest version of all. Granted, taste is subjective, but the Andhra tomato pickle is the best crowd-pleaser we’ve come across so far within this niche of Indian cuisine, so it’s the one we’re presenting to you today!

Now, let’s get into why we think this recipe is the best!

Why We Know You’re Going To Love This Recipe

We could sing the praises of this tomato recipe all day and night, but for brevity’s sake, we’ve condensed the reasons we’re sure you’re going to love it into the following list. 

It’s Way Faster Than The Traditional Preparation Method

Making tomato pickle the old-school way is a lengthy, no-cook task involving sun-drying the tomatoes yourself, but we’ve formulated a way to attain the same rich flavors without relying on the mercurial weather.

Using our recipe, you can be tucking into your mouth-watering tomato pickle in 45 minutes flat, but if you were determined to take the traditional route, you’d be waiting around for days while your tomatoes cure in the heat of the sun.

It Satisfies On A Number Of Levels

With spicy, savory, and tangy elements, this tomato pickle has a lot of bases covered in terms of flavor. You’ll never get bored with it, as there’s a lot of complexity to enjoy, taste after taste.

It’s also pretty versatile in terms of course, as it can be served as part of a starter dish or as an accompaniment to a main.

It Lasts For Ages

We touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating… as a pickled food, you can expect your tomato pickle to last for about five months in the refrigerator, and it’s always nice to get more mileage out of food.

A longer shelf-life generally means less waste and a sense of greater value. Of course, we very much doubt you’ll be able to resist gobbling this pickle up for five whole months, but y’know… it’s comforting to know that you could go on a lengthy holiday and be welcomed home by some perfectly edible food.

It Scales Well

There’s no easier recipe to double, triple, quadruple, or half than this one. You can amend the quantities of the ingredients to suit any demand, and as it has such a great shelf-life, it doesn’t matter as much if people don’t eat it all right away.

Uses Long-Lasting Ingredients

The majority of the ingredients called for in this recipe have some serious staying power, so you won’t be in a rush to use them all up before they go bad. They’ll sit on your spice rack for years to come, ready and waiting for their time to shine once again.

Andhra Tomato Pickle Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to pick up from the grocery store to prepare our recipe by the word.

Ingredients To Make This Tomato Pickle At Home

The Pickle:

• 1 kg Roma tomatoes (or plume tomatoes)

• 50 g seedless tamarind

• 1 tbsp mustard seeds

• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds

• 50g garlic cloves

• 50g salt (2 ½ tbsp)

Tempering:

• 1 cup sesame oil

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• 4 garlic cloves

• 6 dried red chilies

• 20 curry leaves

• ½ tsp hing (otherwise known as asafoetida)

Preemptive Conditional Step: Removing Tamarind Seeds

• If you have whole tamarinds, boil the kettle or heat up water in a pan, place the tamarind in a bowl, and pour the water in until the fruit is completely submerged.

• Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap.

• Stir the tamarind occasionally.

• When the water is cool enough to touch, massage the fruit between your fingers, rubbing the flesh from the seeds.

• Remove the pulp and carry on with the standard cooking process below.

Side Note — There aren’t a lot of uses for tamarind seeds, but they’re edible, so if you’re keen on reducing waste, keep them and use them in a dal or something like that. Be sure to soak and fry them first, though, as this makes them a lot more pleasant to eat.

The Pickle

• Step 1 — Chop your Roma tomatoes. They don’t need to be finely diced — Quarters or fifths will do just fine.

• Step 2 — Use medium heat to get some oil warmed up in a frying pan.

• Step 3 — When the oil is hot, throw your chopped tomatoes and seedless tamarind into the pan. Cover the pan and maintain a medium heat.

You’ll be cooking these two ingredients until the tomatoes appear softer, mushy even, signaling that some of the moisture content has evaporated. But whilst this is happening, you can get on with some dry roasting.

• Step 5 — Grab your mustard seeds, pour some into a small frying pan with no lubricant, and dry roast them on low-to-medium heat until their color lightens and they start making popping noises.

• Step 6 — Place the mustard seeds in a bowl, put them to the side, then use the same pan to dry roast your fenugreek seeds, or as they say in India, methi dana.

Roast them until they turn a pale brown color, then decant them into the same bowl as the mustard seeds.

• Step 7 — While your seed mix is cooling down, revisit your tomato and tamarind. Give it a good stir and continue cooking without the lid on. 

The goal is to rid these fruits of most of their moisture. You’ll know they’re ready when they form what looks more like a thick paste than a bunch of discrete solids.

When you reach this stage, take the pan off the heat and allow the paste to cool down a little.

• Step 8 — Pour your tomato/tamarind paste into a food processor, along with some red chili powder, garlic cloves, and a pinch of salt. Blend until the lumpy paste takes on a nice, smooth texture.

• Step 9 — Use the spice/coffee grinder at the ready, pour your roasted seed mix in, and pulverize it into a fine powder. Set the blend down somewhere safe for the moment.

Tempering

• Step 1 — Grab a large pan and heat up 2 tbsp of oil. When it reaches sizzle-factor 5, pour in some mustard seeds.

• Step 2 — Add some garlic cloves and sauté them alongside the mustard seeds for about 60 seconds on medium heat.

• Step 3 — Throw in the dried red chilies and a small handful of curry leaves. We say “throw” because these ingredients are going to get that hot oil spitting like a camel, so you want to keep your distance.

Alternatively, you can pop a lid on the pan immediately after adding them to the oil. You’ll need to stir occasionally, though, cooking until the leaves have wilted nicely.

• Step 4 — Add your hing and allow everything to sizzle for about 20 more seconds, stirring gently as it cooks.

Bringing It All Together

Now for the final phase of the cooking process… combining all the tasty parts to make a super tasty whole!

• Step 1 — Pour your tomato and tamarind paste into the tempering pan and stir until the oil is fully incorporated into the paste.

• Step 2 — Add your home-ground powder blend to the tempering pan and stir into the paste.

• Step 3 — Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring periodically. If you notice the oil splitting from the paste before 5 minutes have passed, your tomato pickle is ready.

Take the pan off the heat and stir for a few moments as the cooling process begins.

• Step 4 — Eat your tomato pickle fresh. Allow any leftover pickle to cool down completely before decanting it into a glass jar.

Our Pro Tomato Pickle Tips

• Don’t leave out the tamarind. As a natural preservative and important flavor enhancer, it’s essential that it goes into your pickle.

• If you’re a lover of all things spicy, don’t just crank the heat by increasing the amount of chili in this meal; double or triple up on garlic cloves as well. Believe it or not, high concentrations of garlic have a similar impact on the tongue as chili peppers!

• Tomato pickle is pretty good for your health, but you can make it even healthier by wilting some fresh spinach in the pan with your curry leaves.

• Stir continuously to speed up the cooling process, and get your tomato pickle jarred and refrigerated in record time.

Serving Ideas For Tomato Pickle

• For maximum flavor, eat your tomato pickle piping hot alongside some steamed or boiled rice, and if you have some, a drizzle of ghee will really kick things up a notch.

• We’d also recommend serving a small portion of your tomato pickle up as part of a thali, which is a meal composed of multiple different elements, such as dal or sambar, rice or flatbread, chutney, raita, vegetables, poppadom, and of course, pickle.

• Curd rice shares a lot of synergy with this tomato pickle, so we highly recommend giving this pairing a shot.

• Tomato pickle is the perfect side dish for numerous different foods and meals, including but by no means limited to dosa, uttapam, paniyaram, idli, Pongal, dal, paratha, and roti-sabzi.

• Blend some cuisines by adding your tomato pickle to a charcuterie board or hummus platter.

• Keep it simple with naan and poppadoms, using your tomato pickle as a tasty dip.

How To Store Tomato Pickle

If sealed in an airtight container, tomato pickle can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 weeks, but when refrigerated and stored correctly, you can get a good 5 months out of your tomato pickle, possibly even 6. Here’s how it’s done…

• Before you make your tomato pickle, prepare the glass jars. They will be stored by washing, rinsing, and drying them. It’s best to do this first so the jars have a chance to completely air dry.

If you’re making a large batch of pickle to dip into every now and again, it’s best to use a number of small jars rather than a single big one.

See, the more you open the jar, the faster the pickle will deteriorate, so splitting it into smaller portions is essential if you want your pickle to last as long as possible.

• Allow your tomato pickle to cool down to room temperature. As mentioned earlier, stirring it will expedite the cooling process. 

• Use a clean, dry spoon to serve and jar your pickle.

• Seal all jars so that they’re airtight before placing them in the refrigerator.

• Each time you open a jar, seal it securely as soon as possible.

• Try your best to keep your refrigerator’s internal temperature stable. In other words, don’t open the door too often, and when you do, be sure to close it ASAP.

You can also freeze your tomato pickle if you go a little overboard quantity-wise. Follow the above steps, but be sure to use freezer-safe containers. You’ll get at least a year’s life out of frozen tomato pickle.

Final Thoughts

Our Andhra tomato pickle is a scrumptious side dish guaranteed to garner many a “yum” from yourself and any guests lucky enough to share the experience.

It, of course, goes down a treat with other Indian foods but is by no means hemmed into Eastern cuisine. Teeming with powerful but very diplomatic flavors, it pairs well with more foods than it doesn’t, so go wild — There are no wrong answers!

Remember to follow the storage guidelines laid out in this guide, and your pickle should last at least five months in the fridge or even longer in the freezer, but we have a sneaking suspicion that leftovers won’t be an issue, as this stuff is delicious!

Frequently Asked Questions