Sev Tameta nu Shaakસેવ ટામેટાનું શાક
This is the dish Gujarati families make when there are no vegetables in the fridge: a quick tomato gravy topped with crisp gram-flour sev, which softens slightly in the sauce. Ready in twenty minutes and perfect with hot rotli.
Ingredients
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- 4 ripe tomatoes
- 1 cup thick sev (gathiya sev)
- 1 tsp ginger-chilli paste
- ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
- 1 tsp jaggery
- Tempering: oil, mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves
- Coriander to finish
Method
- Chop the tomatoes fine.
- Heat oil and crackle mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves.
- Add the tomatoes and ginger-chilli paste, cover and cook 5-7 minutes until the tomatoes collapse.
- Stir in the spice powders, jaggery and salt, add 1 cup water and simmer 5 minutes.
- Add the sev only just before serving, or it goes soggy.
- Finish with coriander and serve with hot rotli.
Tips
- Use thick sev; fine sev dissolves in seconds.
- Keep the gravy slightly thin, as the sev soaks it up.
- The jaggery balances the sharpness of the tomatoes; don't skip it.
Storing and reheating
Once the sev is in, this sabzi cannot be stored; the sev dissolves into the gravy. Keep the gravy on its own and it holds two days in the fridge, with the sev in a separate box. To reheat, add a splash of hot water, bring it to a boil, and scatter fresh sev over. The same applies to a tiffin: gravy in one box, sev in another.
What you can swap
- When tomatoes are out of season or bland, use two tablespoons of tomato purée with a pinch of amchur.
- No thick sev? Crush gathiya over it instead. Ratlami sev also works, but it is spicy, so cut back the chilli powder.
- A teaspoon of sugar can replace the jaggery, but start with half and taste as you go.
- Out of ginger-chilli paste, use half a teaspoon of dry ginger powder with one chopped green chilli.
What to serve with it
The sabzi that gets made in ten minutes when there is no vegetable in the house, eaten with hot rotli or bhakhri, with chaas and kachumber alongside. It is also served with puri at functions. Children in particular like dipping pav into whatever gravy is left.
Mistakes to avoid
- Let the tomatoes collapse fully under a lid. Spices added to half-cooked tomato leave the gravy tasting raw and sharp.
- Do not drop chilli powder into hot oil on its own; it scorches and turns bitter. Add it after the tomatoes have broken down, with a splash of water.
- Go easy on the salt. Sev is salty in itself, so keep the gravy slightly under-seasoned.
- If you dislike tomato skins, grate the tomatoes or blanch and peel them. Otherwise you get little curls of skin through the gravy.
Questions people ask
Can I make this for a lunch box?
Pack the gravy in one container and the sev in a small separate one, and combine them at the table. Packed together, the sev will have dissolved by lunchtime and the sabzi turns to paste.
It came out too sour or too hot. What now?
Add another half teaspoon of jaggery and simmer two minutes, with a little hot water if needed. For excess sourness a pinch of sugar and a generous handful of sev will do it, since the sev also softens the heat.
Can I add anything else to the tomatoes?
Many homes add a chopped capsicum or some boiled green peas, and occasionally cubes of boiled potato. Since this is the onion-and-garlic-free Gujarati version, the tomato, jaggery and sev should still be what you taste.
