Categorized | Vegetarian
Simple, but very tasty tomato choka recipe.
Posted on 20 April 2009
As kids growing up we (brother and sisters) went to school in “town”, which meant leaving home very early as it was a fairly long drive every morning. This usually meant a quick breakfast that we could grab and go. But on the weekend it was a different story. Yes, we still had to wake early and get chores done if we wanted to be on the good side of our mom for the day, but she would spoil us with some hearty food for breakfast. One of my favorite things to eat on the weekend was tomato choka and roti. My mom is tops when it comes to making roti, something I still have to learn to make. But her tomato choka was phenomenal.
She still makes a mean choka, but I do find myself craving my own simple version.
You’ll need…
3 medium to large ripe tomatoes (leave on your kitchen counter to really ripe)
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 of a small onion (depends on how much you like onions)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 hot pepper (to control the heat, don’t use the seeds)
Note: There are several ways you can prepare the tomato for this recipe, but in this version we’ll use the grill. You can also boil in water, place in the microwave on high for a few minutes, roast in your oven or roast in a frying pan on your stove top. If you’d like more info on any of these other methods, leave me a comment or use the contact link above to send me a message.
Wash and remove the stems from the tomato, then place on grill (BBQ). Try to keep the temperature set at about 400C and rotate a couple times to cook evenly. Try not to play with them as they cook as they are delicate and can crush and be of no use to you. I also roast my pepper for a couple minutes as well. Don’t ask me why… it’s just the way I saw my mom do it.
In a bowl add the garlic (slice to make this step easier), salt, hot pepper and get a pestle or something to crush everything with. The salt will assist in breaking things down since it’s abrasive.
With a little bit of force, try to crush everything into a paste.
After about 10-15 minutes on the grill, remove the tomato. It will look charred and you’ll almost think you’ve ruined it. Nope.. that just brings out the natural sugars in the tomato and it’s exactly what we’re looking for. The burnt skin should easily fall off.. try to remove as much as you can. Then add the tomatoes to the bowl with the already crushed garlic and pepper.
Crush everything into a nice thick sauce. the tomato will let out a bit of liquid (depends on the variety of tomato you use). You’ll probably find that around the stem area of the tomato will be a bit tough to crush. You can remove that from the bowl.
Final steps…
Slice the onion very thin and place on top of the now crushed mixture. Then in a small frying pan, put the olive oil to heat on high. In a couple minutes you’ll start seeing the oil starting to smoke. Try not to keep it on the heat fro much longer as olive oil cannot withstand too much heat. Take the oil over to the bowl and gently (be careful for oil splatters) pour onto the onions. Act fast – stir the entire lot around so the crushed garlic, the salt, pepper, roasted tomato puree and the onions get’s mixed evenly. You’re done!
TIP : I try to use a “sweet” onion instead of a normal cooking onion so it’s not as bitter when eating. In the past I’ve also roasted the garlic before crushing but I’ve found that I missed that true garlic flavor that I grew up with.
Overall a very simple, but tasty side dish that’s just perfect for roti or worst case.. pita!
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39 Responses to “Simple, but very tasty tomato choka recipe.”
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I LOVE THE RECIPES, THANKS VERY MUCH .
This is one of my favourite chokas.
Cynthia’s last blog post..Losing Food Identity
thx for the choka recipe I used red onion, it’e a lot milder than ordinary onions
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[rq=224377,0,blog][/rq]You may call it baba ganush, to me it’s baigan choka.
Holy cow this looks good, i love roasted tomatos.
I love this tomato choka recipe. It seems to be easy to make. Will give it a try. Thanks for sharing again with us some secrets of the Caribbean Pot.
.-= Home Based Travel Business´s last blog ..Self-Discipline As One Of The Key Qualities For A Successful Home Based Business =-.
My grandmother sometimes combined roasted tomatoes and melongne in one dish, tasty variation.
.-= Philis´s last blog ..The simplicity and splendor of fry plantains. =-.
Peter, love the idea of using red onions.. you can also try a sweet onion like a vidalia or Spanish sweet. Philis, I also recall my mom doing the same when we didn’t have enough eggplant or tomato, so she would combine.
happy cooking
Chris…
.-= Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..El Yucateco Salsa Picante De Chile Habanero Green Hot Sauce Review. =-.
thanks chris
looks tasty and soupy.
.-= yanique´s last blog ..The simplicity and splendor of fry plantains. =-.
Thanks Chris,
Although I’m not a big tomato fan, I plan to try this recipe.
Carl
never heard of this one. health benefits of tomato are numerous, it’s worth a try.
hi chris ,a very easy way to chopup everything, throw all your ingredients int a chopster and let it all chop up for a few seconds and voila you have nice tasty tomato shoka, without tasty chunks of garlic or onion no bitter taste, it makes life easier than having to pong up as we trinis say, makelife easy use your appliances, out with old in with the new just my opinion bye for now.
Chris I have to try this, brings back fond memories. And I STILL use my mortar and pestle keeping things authentic.
Thank You.
Chris I love this recipe, I will try this one.
.-= Theresa´s last blog ..Cooking dhal, I bet you didn’t know it was this easy! =-.
Hi Chris,
I am American. What do you use this choka on or in?
Vee, thanks for stopping by. Choka is usually enjoyed with roti (search roti – top right). But my favourite way is as a topping for rice, especially if I have dhal (search – top right) on the side. It would work well as a dip for toasted flat breads like, pita and tortillas as well.
happy cooking
chris…
p.s. if you make it a bit more spicy you can use it as you would a hot sauce.. great on top of scrambled eggs.
Hi Chris, its really great you've made the 1000. The reason why your mom would roast the pepper is to have a perfect blend of the main ingredients flavors.
hi chris do you have a phoulourie recipe?
see :http://caribbeanpot.com/a-typical-trinbagonian-ph… is quick and very tasty. Search mango chutney for a nice dipping sauce with green mango.
Hi Chris,
I have tried several of your recipes. They are delicious. I find myself eating a lot of curry chicken lately. I just can't get enough of it. Thank you for sharing them with me. Rita
Hi Chris,
You make me so hungry by just looking at the pictures of your dishes.I have tried a few of them…the stew chicken is one of my favourites..reminds me of my Ma's .Thanks to you I actually cook more… Trini style. I am going to try the tomato choka with sada roti on Sunday.
Cintra
Good recipe keep up the good job that you are doing these Trinidad dishes are so simple yet so great
I love tomato choka… I add a little roasted saltfish as well yummmmmm!
Hi Chris, my mom used to make this so incredible delicious. I forgot completely. Thanks to you I will try this again. My problem years ago was roasting the tomato. But I wil try again.
Really delicious tomato choka. Thanks.
I will try the tomato choka, though this is similar to a sauce my husband makes here in Costa Rica, but we've never roasted the tomatoes. But your mentioning roti sure got my tastebuds jumping. I used to get roti when I lived on St. Croix, and I sure do miss it.
not bad i like it.
When are you going to make bara. I love the way you explain things and get step by step instructions. and I can not find it any were on the web how to make it.
Hi Chris……………hats off to you old chap. (smile). All the recipes come out so very well. Love it.
I must try this tomato choka.
Thanks Chris, this tomato choka recipe is great. I have tried it before. It goes well with Sada roti.
will try this tonight with chapati…
Chris next time you'r making tomato choka try adding some roasted geera ground up, that's my favorite
Hi Lucky, adding some roasted ground geera sounds like a great idea, I will definately try that. Thank you, amanda
Hi Chris,
I am going to try this recipe over the weekend looks delicious. Thanks for sending me this recipe.
Chris, this dish orignated from Bihar, in India. spelt Chokha there. we eat it with something called "liti" which flour dumplings stuffed with a spicy chick pea mixture and baked in an oven. absolutely delish.Aloo Chokha, Baingan Chokha and tamatar chokha! and the oil used is mustard oil which gives it a mean kick when paired with raw onions and minced green habaneros.
Nice one Chris . This Tomato Choka goes well with Sada Roti and I also enjoy eating it with Rice and Dahl . Thanks .
Thnaks, Chrsi. Can u mix this in with cooked rice and have it as a kind of tomato ketchup or put on cooked vegetables like a sauce?
Chris, I'm new to your blog, but I have to say I echo everyone else's comments here. One of the things I cherish the most about my Trini heritage is the cuisine. Everywhere I go people can't seem to get enough of the curry chicken, or the stew chicken and on and on….
Today I decided to have a nice weekend breakfast and tomato choka was exactly what I needed.
Great recipe, so simple and so delicious.
I have also had choka with chips. I found that it is a fantastic dip. Making a bowl for Superbowl party and I have no doubt that it will be a hit.
Melongene choka is made much the smae way and you can mix both tomato and melongine together and have melongene /tomato choka.
We make our tomato choka in the blender and add shadon beni