Tomato saar is a delicious vegan Goan style tomato curry made by blending tomatoes and coconut and tempering with spices. During the busy rush hours in the morning, I always try simple and easy recipes. Today’s recipe, i.e. Tomato Saar or Goan Tomato Curry which is a basic vegetarian curry. I cook rice every day and therefore I must cook a vegetarian curry with rice.

This Indian tomato curry is a simple one and tastes good. The tangy flavour of tomatoes various spice powders makes this one a delicious vegetarian food.

This tomato saar recipe is not the same as tomato soup. In tomato soup ,we don’t add tempering. But in tomato saar Goan, we add tempering with mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves.

In Karnataka and Maharashtra, tomato saaru without coconut can also be made in similar way. Just that we can avoid adding coconut while blending the tomatoes. The consistency of the curry will differ slightly. The taste will still be great.

Related posts: Millet tomato rice, Tomato rice, Baked parmesan tomatoes

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Tomato coconut curry ingredients:

Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes always make a great curry. If tomatoes are tangy, you can add little sugar while making the curry. If you like tangy curry, no need to add additional sugar.
Coconut: Freshly grated coconut is used in preparing this tomato based Indian curry. Coconut milk can also be used. Blend tomatoes separately and pour coconut milk directly in the curry.
Curry leaves: Curry leaves are added while tempering and lends a nice flavour to the curry.
Garlic: Garlic adds nice pungent flavour to the curry.
Spices: Different spices like mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, dry red chilies are added to the tomato curry while tempering. Turmeric powder and red chili powder are also added to provide necessary spice.
Sugar: Sugar is added to the recipe if the tomatoes are tangy. Depending on the tanginess of tomatoes, the sweetness can be altered.

How to prepare tomato saar:

We begin by grinding tomatoes by adding little water first and making a puree with them.
Next we grind grated coconut by adding little water and keep it aside.
Then we do the tempering. So, in a kadai, we add oil. When it heats, we add mustard seeds.
After mustard seeds flutter, we add some cumin seeds.
Next, we add curry leaves, red chilies and add asafoetida piece/powder.
Add garlic and fry till raw smell of garlic goes away.
All the time, we must keep flame on low heat.
Next add tomato puree and let it get cooked for 5 minutes.
Once bubbles start appearing, we add grated coconut paste and simmer for some time.
Then we add turmeric and chili powder.
If tomatoes are tangy, we add sugar, salt and mix well.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

So why don’t you try this simple recipe instead of making the regular Dal palak? I bet everyone will love it and will leave them wanting you to make it again.