About the Recipe
This way of cooking tomato and dates (khajoor) together to come up with a sweet-cum-sour tasting dish, was a commonality in Odia homes decades back. Now,some how, this traditional dish does not make frequent appearance in the Odia thali being served as lunch or dinner, perhaps because home- makers are obsessed more with exotic food. But in the feasts thrown open in marriages or other occasions still one usually comes across this tasty item.
Ingredients
250 gm tomato (tamatar)
100 gm date palm (khajuri)
2 tablespoon freshly grated coconut (nadia kora)
½ inch ginger (adaa)
2 dry red chillies (sukhila lanka)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder (haladi gunda)
50 gm sugar (chini)
1 tablespoon refined oil (refaain tela)
salt to taste (luna)
Method
Chop the tomatoes into small pieces. Crush the ginger. Heat oil in a frying pan/kadhai. When the oil is considerably hot, sauté the khajuri. Then transfer the khajuri to a plate. Put red chillies to the hot oil in the frying pan. Add the crushed ginger and turmeric powder to it. Fry it for some time. Subsequently add the chopped tomatoes and salt to it. Stir it and then cover the pan with a lid for some time. Keep stirring until the tomatoes make a thick paste. Then add ½ cup water to it and leave the mixture to boil. Now add fried khajuri, grated coconut and leave it to boil on a medium flame for about 5 minutes. Make sure the lid of the pan is closed before boiling. Then add sugar and continue boiling for another 5 minutes. Tomato khajuri khata is ready to served. You may garnish it with coriander leaves (dhaniya patra).
