A small incident from my childhood got me thinking. Flashback to the late eighties. For a few months there was an hour’s afternoon slot on doordarshan. Each quarter of the hour was dedicated to a specific audience. I remember the first 15 mins, which was the children’s slot. Because I ate very slowly, I was time boxed to finish my lunch in the time of this program. Once there was a play about fruits and vegetables. Actors dressed up as potato/okhra/aubergine/carrot. Aubergine was the king of vegetables (don’t ask me why..beats me!!!). One particular episode I can still recall. It was the trail of tomato. It went something like this...
In the docks – Tomato
Prosecuting attorney –The versatile vegetable potato
Potato- “Tomato, you are hereby charged for blasphemy in the supreme court of vegetables for claiming to be a fruit. What do you have to say in your defence?”
Tomato – “I AM a fruit. I am called ‘love apple’ in many parts of the world. I carry the seeds of my own flowering plant like fruits. I do not need to be boiled in pressure cooker like other vegetables. I do not think I am a vegetable.”
Potato: “You forget that you are not eaten as a fruit, you are not sweet enough. You are used in cooking with vegetables.”
Tomato: “Yes I am not sweet enough, but that is why I am so popular in jams and preserve because I can save the fruits by my acidic content. I lose my identity when added along with vegetables; with fruits I can hold my own.”
Well, I am pretty sure the discussion was not this technical. But I do think it could have gone this way. Sadly I cannot recall what the verdict was.
Bengalis have understood the quandary of tomato and given it its due in some ways. The best example is the Tomato-r Chatni which comes during the Chatni course in Bengali cuisine. Not as an accompaniment like dhaniya ki chutney or imli chutney. It is a standalone component of the food hierarchy and comes between the mains and the sweets.
For a non-bengali this misplaced serving of Chatni can seem weird. But the idea is to balance out the palate, cleanse it of the spices from the mains and prepare it for the sweetness to come (which comes in plenty). Well that is my theory at least. I think it does make sense...doesn’t it? The preparation of Chatni collaborates this. It has spices like Mustard seeds/ methi sometimes tejpatta (Bay leave), but also has sugar/jiggery.
Chatni is a deliberate spelling mistake. This is how Bengalis pronounce it. Maybe because you end up licking your plates to eat this..so ‘CHAT’ni. Probably a distortion of the phrase ‘chaete ne’ (as in lick it up).
When we got married, AS who claims he is a pretender not actually a bangali, was perplexed with this. He loves the tomato Chatni. But as it was always served after the mains, he could never do justice to it with his filled stomach. Finally he requested that it should be declared at the beginning of the serving that there was tomato chutney coming down the line.
I have forgotten the number of times I have made this Chatni now. That is a bit weird considering that I don’t like it much. I only have a spoonful at most. It is not anathema. It is more like apathy to something you have seen in plenty. Having said that..it is an easy to make and adds a course to any lunch /dinner party.
My mom is makes the loveliest tomato-r Chatni. Whenever there was a pot lunch this was a standard fixture. I have yet to meet someone who did not like her tomato chatni. Outside home, durga pujo bhog is incomplete without chatni and mostly it is the tomato one. She uses a pressure cooker to for cooking it. I prefer to use pans with lid. Pressure cooker makes me uncomfortable. It is like a magician’s trick box, you can’t really see what is going on. In my case the trick mostly goes wrong. So I stick to my pots and pans.
So here is the simple and quick recipe to bangali tomato-r chatni.
Tomator Chatni
6-7 medium sized tomatoes sliced in big quarters
A few strands of sliced ginger
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 cup sugar or 1 cup jaggery ( jaggery gives a better colour to the chutney)
Optional
Some dates sliced
Few pieces of dried mango pulp (called aamshokto –hard aam, or aampapad)
Aalobukhara (Plum)
Heat oil in a pan (or pressure cooker) and add the mustard seeds. Let them sputter. Add the sliced ginger(optional) and immediately add the tomatoes. Cover with lid and let it cook on low heat for next 10 mins. Depending on the variety of tomato it may take a few minutes more or less.
When the tomatoes get mushy and lose their structure, it is time to add the dates/aloobukhara or dried mango pulp if you are using them. Cover and cook for another 10 mins.
If you are happy with the texture, add sugar or jiggery and cover and cook and further 5 mins. I prefer to use jaggery because it gives a good dark colour ..and takes the slight red tomatoes into the category of maroon.
The best thing about making this is it does not take any time. You don’t need to skin the tomatoes, or keep stirring the mixture. You can even prepare this a day or two in advance of a party. It goes wonderfully with kichuri.
P.S – In 1887 US Supreme Court declared tomato as a vegetable, because otherwise it was being imported as a fruit (which was exempt from certain tariffs).
In 2009 Ohio State made tomato its state fruit.
In the docks – Tomato
Prosecuting attorney –The versatile vegetable potato
Potato- “Tomato, you are hereby charged for blasphemy in the supreme court of vegetables for claiming to be a fruit. What do you have to say in your defence?”
Tomato – “I AM a fruit. I am called ‘love apple’ in many parts of the world. I carry the seeds of my own flowering plant like fruits. I do not need to be boiled in pressure cooker like other vegetables. I do not think I am a vegetable.”
Potato: “You forget that you are not eaten as a fruit, you are not sweet enough. You are used in cooking with vegetables.”
Tomato: “Yes I am not sweet enough, but that is why I am so popular in jams and preserve because I can save the fruits by my acidic content. I lose my identity when added along with vegetables; with fruits I can hold my own.”
Well, I am pretty sure the discussion was not this technical. But I do think it could have gone this way. Sadly I cannot recall what the verdict was.
Bengalis have understood the quandary of tomato and given it its due in some ways. The best example is the Tomato-r Chatni which comes during the Chatni course in Bengali cuisine. Not as an accompaniment like dhaniya ki chutney or imli chutney. It is a standalone component of the food hierarchy and comes between the mains and the sweets.
For a non-bengali this misplaced serving of Chatni can seem weird. But the idea is to balance out the palate, cleanse it of the spices from the mains and prepare it for the sweetness to come (which comes in plenty). Well that is my theory at least. I think it does make sense...doesn’t it? The preparation of Chatni collaborates this. It has spices like Mustard seeds/ methi sometimes tejpatta (Bay leave), but also has sugar/jiggery.
Chatni is a deliberate spelling mistake. This is how Bengalis pronounce it. Maybe because you end up licking your plates to eat this..so ‘CHAT’ni. Probably a distortion of the phrase ‘chaete ne’ (as in lick it up).
When we got married, AS who claims he is a pretender not actually a bangali, was perplexed with this. He loves the tomato Chatni. But as it was always served after the mains, he could never do justice to it with his filled stomach. Finally he requested that it should be declared at the beginning of the serving that there was tomato chutney coming down the line.
I have forgotten the number of times I have made this Chatni now. That is a bit weird considering that I don’t like it much. I only have a spoonful at most. It is not anathema. It is more like apathy to something you have seen in plenty. Having said that..it is an easy to make and adds a course to any lunch /dinner party.
My mom is makes the loveliest tomato-r Chatni. Whenever there was a pot lunch this was a standard fixture. I have yet to meet someone who did not like her tomato chatni. Outside home, durga pujo bhog is incomplete without chatni and mostly it is the tomato one. She uses a pressure cooker to for cooking it. I prefer to use pans with lid. Pressure cooker makes me uncomfortable. It is like a magician’s trick box, you can’t really see what is going on. In my case the trick mostly goes wrong. So I stick to my pots and pans.
So here is the simple and quick recipe to bangali tomato-r chatni.
Tomator Chatni
6-7 medium sized tomatoes sliced in big quarters
A few strands of sliced ginger
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 cup sugar or 1 cup jaggery ( jaggery gives a better colour to the chutney)
Optional
Some dates sliced
Few pieces of dried mango pulp (called aamshokto –hard aam, or aampapad)
Aalobukhara (Plum)
Heat oil in a pan (or pressure cooker) and add the mustard seeds. Let them sputter. Add the sliced ginger(optional) and immediately add the tomatoes. Cover with lid and let it cook on low heat for next 10 mins. Depending on the variety of tomato it may take a few minutes more or less.
When the tomatoes get mushy and lose their structure, it is time to add the dates/aloobukhara or dried mango pulp if you are using them. Cover and cook for another 10 mins.
If you are happy with the texture, add sugar or jiggery and cover and cook and further 5 mins. I prefer to use jaggery because it gives a good dark colour ..and takes the slight red tomatoes into the category of maroon.
The best thing about making this is it does not take any time. You don’t need to skin the tomatoes, or keep stirring the mixture. You can even prepare this a day or two in advance of a party. It goes wonderfully with kichuri.
P.S – In 1887 US Supreme Court declared tomato as a vegetable, because otherwise it was being imported as a fruit (which was exempt from certain tariffs).
In 2009 Ohio State made tomato its state fruit.
