While fried tomatoes are a popular and loved Iraqi weekend breakfast, they do go way beyond the morning arena. Throwing some quartered ripe Summer tomatoes with a sprinkle of salt and a knob of butter boiled in a saucepan is all it takes. From there the options are unlimited: scooped with bread, ladled over rice, poured over grilled meat, chicken or fish...
The reason I quarter the tomatoes is because I don't like the tough skin which separates from the flesh upon cooking. Cutting the tomatoes in large chunks makes it easier to fish the skin out of the puree. You can also play around with the consistency: for chunky, just mash the tomato with the back of the wooden spoon against the side of the pan; for smooth, go ahead and blitz it in the blender.
Ingredients:
500g ripe tomatoes
50g butter
1 tsp salt
Method:
Remove the stem core from the tomatoes, then quarter them and put together with the butter and salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
As the tomato heats up, the butter will melt and the tomatoes will release a lot of liquid.
Once it reaches a boil, cover the saucepan and reduce heat to medium-low.
Simmer for about 15 minutes until you are left with a liquidy puree. You can help along the process by mashing the tomato pieces with a wooden spoon against the side of the pan.
Since the tomatoes were quartered, it is easy to fish out the skins (and worthwhile for a pleasant eating experience).
Taste and adjust for salt if necessary.
Serve hot over plain rice or bread. Works great also over grilled meats and fish.
صحة و عافية
My husband is Yemeni and in his village they make something like this. It is called “gazags” and is made by cooking onion and then adding tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and cumin and you cook til the sourness is out of the tomato. I like to add 7spice or yemeni season as well. It is great with bread for breakfast! It is similar to this or an Italian tomato sauce, but Arabic style.
ReplyDeleteI love this; thanks for sharing. Sometimes it's the simple things that bind us. Yemeni cuisine definitely deserves more exposure.
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