Bharwan Tamatar (Stuffed Tomato Gravy)

Bharwan tamatar is a North Indian dish consisting of tomatoes stuffed with a potato filling simmered in a rich tomato gravy. I love to add paneer in the filling along with mashed potato. It is best served with kulcha but regular roti or jeera rice is nice too 😄

Ingredients: (Serves 3)

For stuffed tomato:

1. Tomatoes- 6

2. Potatoes- 2 medium, boiled, peeled and mashed

3. Paneer- 100g, crumbled or grated

4. Onion- 1/2, finely chopped

5. Garlic- 3 cloves, finely chopped

6. Ginger- 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped

7. Green chilli- 2, finely chopped

8. Chopped coriander- 1 tbsp

9. Garam masala- 1 tsp

10. Chilli powder- 2 tsp

11. Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

12. Coriander powder- 2 tsp

13. Sugar- 1/2 tsp

14. Salt- to taste

For gravy:

1. Pulp scooped out from the tomatoes

2. Onion- 1, roughly chopped

3. Garlic- 5-6, roughly chopped

4. Ginger- 1/2 inch, roughly chopped

5. Green chilli- 2 finely chopped

6. Cashew- 10

7. Bay leaf- 1

8. Green cardamom- 2

9. Black cardamom- 1 (optional)

10. Cinnamon stick- 1 inch piece

11. Jeera- 1 tsp

12. Cloves- 2

13. Garam masala- 1 tsp

14. Chilli powder- 2 tsp

15. Coriander powder- 1 tbsp

16. Chopped coriander- 1 tbsp

17. Kasuri methi- 1 tsp

18. Salt- to taste

19. Cream- 1 tbsp

20. Oil- 2 tbsp

Method:

For stuffed tomato:

1. Cut the top cap of the tomato and also cut a little off from the bottom to make sure tomato stands flat. Scoop out the centre pulp from the tomato to form a hollow tomato shell. Reserve the pulp because we will use it to make the gravy. Refer the video below to understand the scooping process better.

2. For the filling, add mashed potato, crumbled paneer, chopped onion, garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander to a bowl and mix it together

3. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala, sugar, salt and coriander powder and mix well. Adjust seasoning as per your taste.

4. Fill the stuffed tomatoes tightly with the filling

For gravy:

1. Add 1 tbsp oil to a kadai and once it’s hot, add the tomatoes to it and cook on high heat till the sides have all blistered and skin becomes soft.

2. Remove the tomato and set aside till further use

3. To the same kadai add chopped onion, ginger, garlic, chilli and reserved tomato pulp. Cook for 10 minutes till raw smell of tomato goes and it’s cooked down.

(Note- It’s not necessary to finely chop these ingredients as it’ll be blended. I had chopped extra while chopping for filling so used the same here)

4. Add cashew nuts and sauté for 2 minutes

5. Cool the above mixture and grind to a smooth purée

6. In the same kadai add 1 tbsp oil, add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom and jeera. Sauté for 1 minute till aromatic

7. Add ground purée to it along with 1/2 cup water

8. Cook it down completely for 10-15 minutes till you get a thick gravy. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt to taste.

9. Add 1/4 cup water and cook for 2-3 minutes

10. Crush kasuri methi between palm and add it to the gravy along with coriander and mix.

11. Add cream to the gravy and mix. Place the tomatoes in the gravy, cover with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes till tomato is tender

12. Serve with kulcha / roti / jeera rice. (kulcha recipe is in my blog, click on above hyperlink)