There is something very basic and wholesome about tomatoes. The acidic, tangy taste, the thick pulpy flesh, the gorgeous red color, and last but not the least, the awesome nutritional profile – every single aspect of the tomato makes it a much-valued addition to every meal.

Tomatoes are known for their high Vitamin C, A and K content. The lycopene is tomatoes is cherished for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cancer preventing properties. Most importantly, lycopene has been known to be very beneficial in promoting prostrate, colon and pancreatic health. Regular intake of tomatoes also reduces the risk of heart disease, cholesterol, migraines and diabetes.

In the west, tomatoes are generally used in salads, as a base for soups, gazpacho, and as a sauce in chili and other dishes. In India, tomatoes are eaten during every single meal: as a base in gravies, in sambar and rasam, as chutneys to be used as an accompaniment to nearly every main course. This tomato chutney recipe is very easy to make and very popular in India. In the summer, when there is an abundance of fresh tomatoes, the Indian housewife always makes this chutney. It stores well – for a couple of weeks (if you make large enough quantities and it is not polished off the first day!), and is a handy accompaniment for any main course. It goes well with rice, chapathis, tortillas, idly (steamed rice cakes), dosa (Indian version of crepes!), oothapam (Indian version of pancake) or even smothered on a slice of whole wheat bread!

Here is what you need:
8 tomatoes (medium size)
1 tbsp red chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
handful fresh garlic pods (peeled and washed)
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
Pinch asofoetida powder (optional, if you cannot source it, but very good for health so try to incorporate – available at any Indian grocery store)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup roasted, unsalted, chopped peanuts (optional)
Here is how you make this:
Wash and chop tomatoes into small cubes. Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seed and wait until they crackle. Now add the cumin seeds and roast for 10 seconds. Add the asofoetida powder. Immediately add the garlic pods and roast for about 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and chili and turmeric powder.

Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the juice evaporates and the tomato chutney takes on the consistency of a thick paste.

Remove from fire and garnish with roasted, chopped and unsalted peanuts. Store in the refrigerator for upto a couple of weeks. Serve with any main dish.

Cost:
Tomatoes (about 1 lb): $1.49 or $3.99 (if organic)
Oil : $0.50
Spices: $0.20
Peanuts: $0.30
————————–—————
Total : $2.49 or $4.99 (if organic)

Makes 15 servings of 1 tsp each.

Cost per serving: $0.16 or $0.33 if organic tomatoes are used.

Sunday mornings are meant to be for lazing, relaxing and recuperating after a strenuous week. And so it was almost a family tradition that Sunday breakfasts were eaten out. It seems like Sunday breakfasts at restaurants is a family tradition for many, because the restaurants I frequent are filled to bursting on Sundays.

When I used to live in India, our Sunday breakfasts consisted of Idly (Steamed rice cakes) and Vadai (Crispy fried lentil doughnuts!) served with Coconut chutney, Sambar (Spicy tamarind lentil sauce) and a spicy tomato onion chutney. We used to stand in line for a table at some of the popular joints in Chennai for this breakfast. By the time we finished, it was usually noon and we would be replete and more than ready for a siesta. I know, I know, eating heavy meals and sleeping it off sounds indolent and slothful, but I do think that we sometimes need days like this when we do nothing other than eat and sleep!

Since we moved to the US, Idly-Vadai-Sambar-Chutney is a distant dream, unless I am willing to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen preparing all this. So, we’ve substituted our Indian breakfast with our 2nd favorite breakfast, the Omlette. There are many mom and pop or family restaurants sprinkled all around the US, where you can get a delicious omlette. The scene  is pretty much the same: you have to wait in line for a table at some of the good restaurants. The difference between the breakfasts, though, is that for one, it is relatively simple and quick to make an omelette at home, while, like I mentioned before, the Idly-Vadai is quite a big production of pre-preparation. In addition, the cost of an Omlette breakfast in a restaurant can run into nearly $6 or $7 per person, while the effort of making an Idly-Vadai breakfast will easily justify the cost of eating this meal at a restaurant.

So, continuing with our series of Cooking on a Shoestring Budget, try out this Fusion Omlette at home. Breakfast can be served within 10 minutes, you can control the butter in the dish and best of all, the whole breakfast, including coffee, will cost less than $1.50 per person.

Here is what you need:
2 eggs or 2 egg whites and 1 yolk
1/4 red onion (chopped fine)
1/4 green pepper (chopped fine)
1 green chili (chopped fine)
couple of sprigs of cilantro (washed and snipped fine)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
Pinch turmeric powder
Grated cheese (optional)

Here is how you make this:
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. In a bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric beater until frothy. Add salt, pepper and turmeric powder and yolks. Beat for a few more minutes.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. When the oil is hot, add the beaten egg. Sprinkle chopped onion, green pepper, green chili and cilantro. Sprinkle cheese if desired. Cook on one side and fold over and cook the other side.

Remove from pan and serve with pan-toasted whole wheat or 7 grain bread.

Cost:
2 eggs: $0.20
Oil : $0.10
Filling (veggies): $0.20
Cheese: $0.05
————————–
Total : $0.55

Add a couple of slices bread and coffee and your meal is less than $1.50! Better still, use organic or cage-free eggs and your meal is still much less than a restaurant breakfast.

It seems like everyday brings us bad news about our economy. Jobs lost, businesses floundering, people on unemployment, children displaced…Even if you are not directly affected, someone you know might be. I know it is easy to be disheartened.

But, at times like this, it is even more important to stay healthy, focused and strong. And you can do it – you can keep your family healthy on a shoestring budget.

Here begins a series of posts of dishes that cost very less, are healthy and easy to make and keep your family not just fed, but fed with wholesome, enticing, satisfying food on a shoestring budget. The dishes that I plan to post will average around $3-$4 and will feed a family of 4. Most dishes will be served with rice, whole-wheat chapathis (Indian flatbread) or regular whole wheat bread. You can keep the cost of each meal (including rice or bread) to about a $1 or $1.50 per person – sure beats McDonalds dollar menus – in terms of taste, nutrition, variation and satisfaction.

Here are some tips to lower grocery bills – yes, you can still eat fresh!

1. Buy local and seasonal vegetables and fruit. For instance, buy squash and pumpkin in fall. Fresh cauliflower and peas in winter. Watermelon in summer.
2. If your family likes bananas, ensure that you have them at hand. They are cheap – generally about $0.40/lb, available year round, very healthy and wholesome. Try to get the kids to eat at least one banana or some other fruit each day, instead of eating chips and salsa or cookies.
3. Supplement vegetable dishes with canned beans. You can buy canned black beans, garbanzo beans, red kidney beans when they are on sale and stock up. When you are in need of a quick meal, you can whip up a fantastic tasting dish with these beans.
4. Many people end up buying much more than they can consume in a week. Vegetables and fruit are usually fresh only for a week or so. So plan your menu beforehand. When you visit the store, resist buying more than you need. Otherwise, a large part of the grocery bill will go towards wastage. I follow the maxim – “Waste Not, Want Not”.
5. Patronize your local farmer’s market. You will help your local businesses survive during the downturn, while getting fresh, possibly organic produce at low prices.
6. Especially if you are a vegetarian, stock up on a variety of lentils. They average around $1.50/lb and are protein rich. You can also sprout some of them at home for an extra helping of nutrition.

This week, I found fresh Calabaza Squash in my neighborhood grocery store. They were priced at $1.29/lb. I bought a pound and made them into this easy, goes-with-everything chutney. Serve with rice, or chapathis (Indian flatbread) or even with pan-toasted bread.

Here is what you need:
1 lb Calabaza squash
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tbsp skinned, split urad dal
4-5 dry red chili
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp olive oil

Here is how you make this:
Wash and peel the Calabaza squash. Chop into cubes. Heat a pan. Add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait until the seeds crackle and add the dry red chili and urad dal. Stir fry until the chili and urad dal are brown and crisp. Add the Calabaza squash and salt. Stir fry on high for a couple of minutes. The squash will start to extrude some juice. Keep stirring until some of the juice has evaporated. Remove from the stove. Place in a blender with tamarind paste and blend until smooth.

Serve over rice, or with chapathis or on toasted bread along with some sprouts for a full meal.

Cost:
Calabaza squash: $1.29
Spices : $0.25
Oil : $0.10
————————
Total : $1.64 – Serves 6

As a young child, I have heard many folklore about the British reign in India. The Brits, we were told, had a fascination for this country of stark contradictions.

This was a land where elephants roamed the unpaved roads; snake charmers with huge snakes wrapped around their necks knocked on your door; where extreme poverty co-existed with the lavish wealth of the Maharajahs who lived lives of unheard-of splendor. My grandfather would tell me stories about the vast treasures that were part of India’s heritage: the Peacock throne, the Kohinoor diamond, and enormous amounts of gold, silver and precious gems set in ornate jewelery by artisans of exceptional skill. Not for naught was India called a “Jewel in the Crown”.

The wonderful landscape, the wealth in the land, the diverse population, the rich culture, the varied and vast cuisine, the different kinds of vegetables and fruit, the elephants, camels, monkeys, snakes, peacocks, deer, tigers and lions that roamed the jungles – all went towards creating this aura of a mysterious land that attracted some adventurous people from Britain. They came to India with the eager anticipation of experiencing its wonder. They came prepared with their hats and white clothes to bear the heat and the dust. They brought their cuisine and their religion. They brought their cricket, croquet and tennis games. And they brought their wives, girl friends and family members.

Even though the British in India had mostly re-created a life similar to theirs in Britain, they also loved to mingle with Indian high society and rub shoulders with the Indian Kings. They especially loved being invited to the grand marble palaces for sumptuous dinners. And while they enjoyed being part of India’s upper crust, they found it hard to eat Indian food. It was too spicy for their taste.

As the story goes, in the early 1900′s, a young British couple had just moved to India. They made their first appearance at a dinner hosted by one of the local Kings. As course after sumptuous course was served by white-jacketed waiters, the young wife found she could hardly swallow the spicy food. She started to drink wine deeply from the bejeweled silver goblets and soon got pretty drunk. As each course was served, the butler would announce the name of the dish in stentorian tones. Finally, the butler announced, “Fried green chili”. The young wife heaved a sigh of relief thinking that this dish would be cool – since the name was chili. Unfortunately for her, the green chili served was the spicy little roasted green peppers. A bite of the dish had her reaching for her water goblet and screaming for something sweet to offset the spice.

That story brings to mind my Sweet Green Chili pickle recipe, made spicy and sweet, in accordance to Indian cuisine’s taste-bud rhapsody! Try it: it tastes simply fantastic especially when eaten with Aloo paratha (potato stuffed whole wheat bread).

The spice in the green chili is offset by the sweet taste of jaggery. And you needn’t reach for your water glass after eating this dish: the chilis that you get here in the US are nowhere near as spicy as the Indian green chili and this dish is more sweet than spicy. All-in-all, this Sweet Green Chili pickle is the ultimate sweet and spice and all things nice.

Here is what you need:
4 large fleshy green Mexican chilis
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup jaggery powder (you can also use brown sugar)
Smidgen of tamarind paste

Here is how you make this:
Chop the green chili. Heat the olive oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to crackle and add the cumin seeds. Roast for 10 seconds. Now add the chopped green chili, red chili powder and salt. Stir fry on high heat for about 1 minute. Reduce heat and add the tamarind paste and powdered jaggery or brown sugar. Simmer until the chili is cooked and the jaggery is melted.

Remove from fire and serve with Aloo Paratha. Eat sparingly – not more than 1 tsp per meal. You can store this in the fridge for upto 1 week.

I was fascinated by one of Enid Blyton’s characters, Kiki, the talking parrot, who would always squawk, “Shut the door and wipe your feet!”. And when I read the sentence where she tells a guy called Bill, “Bill, pay the bill!”, my 10 year old wildly runaway imagination would picture the scene of a grown-up being told to pay the bill by a parrot.  I would laugh so uproariously at the thought that I invariably fell out of the guava tree at that juncture. But that’s not all I liked about Kiki. What I admired the most was that her loyalty could not be bought even when she was offered her favorite food – a handful of nuts.

Nuts were not just Kiki’s favorite food, they also are mine! So, when a cousin came to visit from Canada and showed me this Peanut chutney recipe, I was thrilled. It tastes just fantastic and the very best thing about this recipe is that it has absolutely no oil – zero, zilch! The only fat in this chutney comes from the nuts themselves, which, as we all know is healthy fat.

Here’s the what you will need:
1 cup raw peanuts
3 dry red chili
1 tsp salt

Heat a non-stick pan and toast the red chili until they start puffing up. Now add the peanuts and toast for about 5 minutes until peanuts are roasted well. Remove from fire and cool. Place the nuts and red chili in a blender along with half cup water and salt and blend until smooth. Add more water, depending on the consistency you would like.

Serve with Pesarattu (recipe provided on December 7, under the name “Green Revolution”)

More tomorrow – Check back for Red pepper Gotsu recipe – hot off the stove!