One of the many perks of having a kitchen garden is that it enables us to look at produce and value it’s growth at every stage. Sometimes the same fruit or vegetable can be enjoyed as a whole new ingredient depending on when it is harvested.
One of the many perks of having a kitchen garden is that it enables us to look at produce and value it’s growth at every stage. Sometimes the same fruit or vegetable can be enjoyed as a whole new ingredient depending on when it is harvested.
Until we started growing our own tomatoes, I never really gave the unripe tomato much attention. Red tomatoes were always a part of my grocery list and that was it. While I was aware of green tomatoes in South American cooking, I always equated it with the tomatillo which is a native ingredient in that region. The green tomato is firm and holds it shape well when cooked. While the hybrid variety can be a bit bland when green the country tomato or nattu thakkali kai is quite delicious.
A few years ago we had an usually large bounty of tomatoes and we had to pulp and freeze a lot of the ripe fruit so as to not let it rot. That’s when I considered picking it when unripe and trying my hand at some green tomato recipes. I found to my surprise that green tomatoes are used in South Indian cooking in so many ways. A green tomato chutney is made by cooking the unripe tomato flesh with onions and green chillies until soft and then blending it in the mixer to a fine purée. Sometimes tamarind is added to accentuate the sourness or roasted peanuts for a different taste and texture.
We experimented with both and while the fine blend without nuts is perfect to be eaten with our Indian breakfast rice staples, the chunky chutney with nuts is quite versatile as a dip to dunk vegetable crudités into (long strips of carrots, cucumber, capsicum etc). It’s a light and tasty option for an after school snack.
There’s one other dish which isn’t Indian but caught my interest as a young girl. It’s called ‘fried green tomatoes’ and it became popular when a movie by the same name was released in Hollywood featuring Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson and Kathy Bates. It was much talked about owing to it’s talented star cast and touching story line. I remember buying the DVD years later and finding the recipe for Fried green tomatoes printed on the back of the cover. It's a typical Southern American dish. It took me a long time before I actually made it for fear that my family may not like it.
The original recipe uses cornmeal and flour into which the green slices of tomato are dredged and then deep fried but we ended up doing a shallow fried version with very little oil and coating the slices with just enough wheat flour mixed with salt, dried herbs and some of the kodai parmesan cheese. It can be made in a matter of a few minutes and tastes great as a breakfast side to fried eggs. Serving some raw slices adds a burst of freshness against the richness of the golden oozy egg yolk. When we’re not having a regular Indian breakfast, this fried egg and tomato option is a favourite.
With the left over pulp and seeds after making the chutney we strained it to make a green tomato rasam. It’s so fulfilling when very little is wasted.
We have friends coming over for lunch tomorrow and I can’t wait to make my very own crunchy green tomato salad with the summer flavours of lemon and mint.
Green tomato options for summer
Green tomato chutney
Green tomato salad
Thakkali kai paruppu (pappu)
Chilled green tomato soup
Green tomato relish