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 -

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.

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!