Sun Dried Tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes 

When I saw Rhea Mitra Dalal from Euphorea's post about Sun dried tomatoes on the culinary group Chef At Large I knew I had to make the best of the sun which can probably wrinkle and dry me and so a kilogram of tomatoes were chopped and thus began that incredible journey.

Sun -drying tomatoes in places where you get plenty of sun is easy but in a tropical country like our's here are a few points you might find useful which I am sharing from my experience . While you can use any herb or make it any way I am giving you the exact measurement and ingredients which I personally have used

Mixing everything

So basically what you need is :-

1 kilogram of plump red tomatoes. I used the medium sized ones
1 tbsp paprika
1 heaped tsp dried thyme
Salt as per taste but here I would like to point out that salt is a preservative and so using a bit of extra salt wouldn't be a bad idea. I used 1 heaped tsp + 1 dessertspoon of salt.

Dried after 3 days

Chop the tomatoes in small pieces and mix all the ingredients and place preferably on a flat colander or just a big plate. Let it wrinkle up. It might take any number of days from 3 days to 2 weeks. It took me 3 days. Once done the texture will be dry and leathery . Now simply store in a  jar and fill the jar with olive oil, I used 5 to 6 dried cloves of garlic and 1 whole sun dried red chili pepper for extra flavour. let it sit for 2 days and enjoy the amazing flavour. use on pizzas, pastas , salads or even on bread

Here is an idea of what can be done with these gorgeous beauties. Spaghetti with Sun dried tomatoes.


Points to remember :-

1. Place the tomatoes side by side leaving a bit of space between them 
2. Once the sun goes down immediately put your colander in the refrigerator else it might form moulds in a  Tropical country like India. i did a test and put out one slice outside and put the rest inside and the one slice developed mould within 1 hour. 
3. Use a screen to ward off birds 
4. If living in a  dusty area use a muslin cloth on top but make sure it doesn't touch the tomatoes . use bricks on four sides. Remember our Grandmothers making pickles and drying stuff before pickling