September 23, 2009

Stuffed tomato subji

I’ve always wanted to try this dish ever since I first had it at ML’s house and subsequently at some restaurant. It’s certainly not hard but I just hadn’t gotten around to doing it. Here goes – a recipe for stuffed tomatoes.. so this dish can be had just as an appetizer/snack by itself or as a side-dish with gravy. It doesn’t matter.. the procedure is pretty much the same.
What you need -
Tomatoes 4-6, reasonably firm
For the stuffing -
Paneer/Mozzarella or some cheese 100g
Garlic 3-4 cloves, finely chopped
Pepper Freshly ground to sprinkle
Salt to taste
For the gravy-
Onions 2 large, coarsely chopped
Green chillies 2, slit
Capsicum 1 medium, coarsely chopped
Milk 2 tablespoons
Dhaniya-Jeera powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric a pinch
Oil 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Curry and coriander leaves to garnish

As always, for stuffing the tomatoes, use your imagination. I actually used 2 spoons of leftover fried rice along with the paneer and the spices to give it some body.
Method -
1. Wash the tomatoes well and prepare them for slitting. What you want to do is to make the tomatoes into cups which you can then stuff and bake. So using a sharp knife, make a slit at the crown of the tomato and keep slitting clockwise (or anti) till you’ve made a full circle. Now you should be able to remove the top of the tomato. You may wonder why you should do this instead of just slicing away the top. The reason is that this gives it more of a cup structure and is less likely to crumble while baking than if just cut across. Reserve the tops as they assist in quick baking.
2. Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp from the tomato leaving behind the empty tomato cup. Do not throw the pulp away. Collect the pulp from all the tomatoes you plan to use.
3. For the filling: Just mix all the ingredients you plan to stuff your tomato with in a bowl, divide them evenly and stuff each tomato cup with it till 3/4th full. I like to leave some cheese on top of all the filling because it looks pretty when it’s baked. So this is what you should have -
IMG_3596a
4. Now before you prepare the gravy (if you are going to), shove the tomatoes into the oven with their ‘tops’ on at 180°C for 20 minutes to bake. Voilà – Notice how the tomato is cooked well enough to crack it’s sides. You could stop right here if you’re just serving this as a snack.
tomato
4. For the gravy: Shallow fry the green chillies, onions, the capsicum and the tomato pulp you used in oil for a few minutes till everything’s cooked. Season with salt, dhaniya-jeera powder and turmeric. Set aside till it has cooled down.
5. Grind the mixture into a coarse paste adding milk to it to give it a creamy texture. Add water if required till you get the desired consistency.
6. Heat it to a boil once again the saucepan and set aside. The tomatoes that have baked can now go in.
7. Garnish with coriander/curry leaves and serve with fresh white rice or chapathis/parathas.
Bon Appétit!
IMG_3638a

18 comments:

GeekGrl said...

These look amazing. Great job not just with the recipe - but the photos too. You've made me hungreeeeeeee at midnight!

Krish said...

Yummmmyyyyyyyy.. Man, I didn't know that people actually made all this at home. Hehe, I thought they just order this at restaurants. Nice work as always!

Radhika said...

Wow Jaya.. what areturn to food blogs. I love the fotos. They look very tasty. I hope I have the patience to try this some day. Very nice Jaya.

Brinda said...

I love the rays of sunshine in the pics. Sorta makes the tomatoes glow. Will absolutely try it!

chandni said...

Are those coasters under each tomato? :-). That's such a cute idea. BTW, the whole dish looks sumptuously, lip-smackingly mouthwatering.

Anonymous said...

Love the vibrant colors!! What camera do you have?

- Radhika

Jaya said...

Thanks everyone... You guys keep me going! :D

Radhika-> It's a Canon EOS Rebel XT. Thanks a bunch for the comment. Keep visiting!

Unknown said...

Looks awesome :) I've always wanted to make this dish. Will try your recipe now.

Musing Gal said...

I had a similar one years back but it was stuffed capsicum curry. This sounds interesting will try this. Tried the tofu dishes you had posted and they were tasty!

Payal said...

it looks so yummy..I am going to have to try it ASAP!!!

Jaya said...

Aruna-> Please do try it n you can report back with any suggestions you may have to improve it. But this was pretty darned good :). Bon appetit!!

Musing Gal-> My thought exactly. I have pictures somwhere of the stuffed capsicum I made some day. I'll post n boast soon :) Thanks for visiting :)

Payal-> Please do try it and lemme know how it turned out! Thanks for visiting!

Come back, y'all!

Jaya said...

Chandni-> I realize I didn't answer you. Nice observation - yes, those are coasters underneath each tomato :D. Thanks again nkeep visiting!!

PrivateMartin said...

WOW mouth watering and quite unique. i have had stuffed capsicum before but never seen this dish. could ask my wife to mae it. by the way baby Aditi is very fine and statrted to crawl and nearly 10 months now.
hows your family. and whn u gonna have a baby unless i did nt know abt one already..

tc bye

Anonymous said...

Looks absolutely divine! You must love your food. I'm going to try a couple of your recipes tonight.

Jaya said...

PrivateMartin-> Thanks a lot! Do have your wife try it and report back! Glad to hear about your baby and no, i don't have one yet :)

Anonymous-> Thanks a bunch.. yes yes, I do love my food.. hope the rest of you do. Lol. Thanks for your comment n keep visiting and maybe reveal yourself down the line. :)

Sheila said...

After the scolding :) from you I comment thus:

Awesome recipe with beautiful pictures..

Parasuraman said...

NICE PICTURES AND THE DISH ITSELF MAKES U FEEL THAT WE SJOULD ALL LIVE TO EAT GOOD JAAB

Jaya said...

Shiela-> Hehe.. I didn't mean to scold you or anything. :)But I am glad that you appreciate my sentiment and commented here. Thanks a tonne and keep visiting!!

Appa-> Thanks a bunch :D

Keep visiting y'all!

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