As tomato prices rise, two Mumbai chefs share natural alternatives to use while cooking

As prices of tomatoes hit the roof to almost double the cost, two chefs suggest delicious, natural alternatives to replace one of the most popular kitchen ingredients

No grave(y) error

Chef Jasleen Marwah, better known as @namakbyjasleen who runs Folk in Kala Ghoda, along with a Kashmiri delivery kitchen, says tomatoes uplift the flavour of a dish by adding khataas and body to the dish. She makes rajma and rogan josh without tomatoes, an otherwise key ingredient. “Curd is an easy, handy and delicious replacement. It’s most readily available in homes. It becomes a great backup. Curd, when used in less quantity, is easy to use. Only in dishes where it is predominant like a kadhi or a yakhni do we have to be careful while handling it. The rogan we make at Folk has no onion, tomato or garlic. The khataas and gravy is made with curd. And that is why the flavours are so unique and subtle,” says Marwah.

Jasleen Marwah in the kitchen. Pics/Sameer Markande

The chef prefers using curd and fennel powder in her rajma. “Added to Kashmiri chilli powder, the rasa (gravy) turns out smoother, silkier and lighter. This too was a practice because fresher ingredients were not always available in Kashmir. This is a trick for all powdered spices. An addition of dry ginger and hing, and you could add it to any Kashmiri dish!”

Rajma

Ingredients
. 1/4 kg rajma 
. 1 tejpatta
. 1 cinnamon stick 
. 4 to 5 cloves 
. 5 green elaichi
. 2 black elaichi 
. Salt to taste
For tadka:
. Mustard oil 
. Pinch of hing 
. 2 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder 
. 2/3 cup curd 
. 2 tbsp fennel powder
. ¼ tsp sonth 
. ½ tsp Kashmiri tikki masala

Method
Boil rajma with tejpatta, cinnamon stick, cloves, green and black elaichi. Add salt to taste. In mustard oil, add hing, Kashmiri red chilli and curd. Stir till oil separates. Add the boiled rajma along with fennel powder, sonth and Kashmiri tikki masala.

Rogan Josh

Ingredients
. 1 kg meat 
. 10-12 tbsp mustard oil 
. ½ tsp hing
. 1 tejpatta 
. 5 green elaichi
. 2 black elaichi 
. 1 cinnamon stick 
. 4 to 5 cloves 
. 2 to 4 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
. 400 gm curd 
. Salt to taste 
. ½ tsp ginger powder
. 2 tsp fennel powder 
. 3 to 4 cups of water

Method
Roast the mutton in mustard oil, along with the whole spices and hing. Add Kashmiri red chilli powder, mix well. Add salt to taste. Add 200 gram curd and cook. After a while, add another 200 gram curd and cook till oil separates. Add ginger powder and fennel powder. Add three to four cups of water and pressure cook.

In the red

From Rs 40 per kg, the cost of tomatoes shot up to Rs 50, Rs 60 and according to our local vendor, it currently stands at Rs 70.

When things go sour

Chef Sara Jacob Nair, founding partner of Nair on Fire, a premium chain of kitchens specialising in home-style Kerala cuisine, says, “Tomatoes lend sourness and give body, mouthfeel, a specific flavour, and colour to curries. However, it can be substituted with tamarind, vinegar, brindle berry, mangoes or bilimbi. The choice depends on the dish being prepared. Vinegar and brindle berry are preferred when cooking a non-vegetarian dish and others for vegetarian dishes, though the rules are not strict,” she shares. In some dishes, the substitution could result in compromising the overall taste and experience and hence needs to be done with caution. “While preparing sambar, tomatoes can easily be substituted with tamarind. This is because the body of the gravy can be managed by dal, sambar powder and other vegetables. The sourness levels can be managed by the quantity used as per preference,” she suggests.

Kerala sambar

Sambar

Ingredients
. 1 cup tur dal 
. ½ tsp turmeric 
. 5 heaped tbsp sambar powder 
. 300-350 gm vegetables (drumstick, yellow pumpkin, small brinjal, beans, carrot and shallots) 
. Tamarind – lemon sized ball for medium sourness (soak in warm water and make into a pulp, and strained to remove strands and rinds) 
. Salt
. Curry leaves 
. a mix of 1 tbsp ghee and 2 tbsp oil . 2 tbsp oil
. Mustard seeds 
. 1 small piece hing 
. 1 tsp hing powder 
. ½ tsp methi seeds
. 4 pieces dried whole red chili 
. Coriander leaves, handful, chopped

Method
Wash and cook the dal with salt and turmeric powder in a pressure cooker. The dal should be well cooked and 3/4th of it mashed and the remaining kept as is. Into a hot kadhai, add oil, curry leaves and the whole hing. Now sauté the vegetables for about two minutes and add salt as needed. Add enough water (3 to 4 cups) to cover the vegetables well and let it cook through. Add the tamarind pulp to the vegetables and bring to a boil and simmer for about three minutes. Now add the sambar powder mixed in some of the hot vegetable gravy to avoid forming lumps and add to the vegetable mix. Boil for a further two to three minutes till the sambar powder is cooked through. Now add the dal to the vegetables and adjust the gravy to the consistency desired by adding water. Boil this for about one-two minutes. Check the salt level at this point. Add chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame. Now, heat a small tempering kadhai and add the ghee and oil mixture. Add mustard seeds, hing powder, methi seeds, whole red chili and curry leaves. Pour the tempered ghee to the sambar mixture, keep it covered for 10 minutes and serve with hot rice.

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