Tomato pachadi (Andhra tomato pickle)

About this pickle

Tomato pachadi is an everyday jar, because it fits almost everything. Ripe tomatoes are cooked down slowly with tamarind and red chilli until the water has gone and what's left is thick, glossy and spoonable. The tamarind sharpens the tomato's own sweetness, so the taste is tangy first and warm after. It's 2 of 3 on our chilli scale, a good middle-of-the-range pickle for a household where not everyone likes the same heat. Unlike the tomato chutney of the same name that's made and eaten on the day, this version is cooked to keep, which is why the flavour is deeper and more concentrated. Breakfast is where it shines: a spoon beside idli, dosa or upma does the job of a chutney without anyone having to grind one at seven in the morning. At lunch, it turns a bowl of hot rice and ghee into a quick tomato rice.

How to enjoy

• Beside idli or dosa in place of a ground chutney; add a few drops of oil if you like it looser.
• Mix a spoon into hot rice with ghee for a two-minute tomato rice.
• With upma or pongal on a busy morning.
• As a spread inside a chapati roll with sliced onion.