The best tomato bhorta recipe! Tomato bhorta is a simple but delicious dish that is often served as a side dish in Bangladesh with rice and other curry dishes. The word ‘bhorta’ is used for a Bengali dish that consist of mainly a type of vegetable. In a bhorta the main ingredient is either mashed up by steaming, boiling or even frying. Then mixed with other essential ingredients to form a dish of it’s own. Sometimes it’s not just a main vegetable that is used but even ingredients like fish/dry fish/beans/legumes. There is a whole array of Bengali bhorta dishes and tomato bhorta is just one of them! In some places it is called ‘bharta’ or even a ‘chutney’!

Tomato bhorta has a unique taste from the sweet and sourness of the tomato itself as well as with the addition of a few extra ingredients. In this recipe ingredients like tomatoes, onions, green chilies/dry red chilies, cilantro and the most essential ingredient mustard oil is used. I love using mustard oil in bhorta’s. Mustard oil brings out all the flavors of any bhorta, its strong pungent flavor is key to a tasty bhorta. Of course a little goes a long way, so you just need to add a small quantity.

More about tomato bhorta

The tomatoes are cooked until they are soft and almost charred to release that unique flavor. Then the tomatoes are mashed up and mixed in with the rest of the ingredients to create a smooth and flavorful bhorta. Tomato bhorta is almost close to a Mexican salsa but of course with its Bangladeshi flavors.

To get the best flavors out of this dish the tomatoes taste best when they are grilled. Any type of tomato will work, try to use nice and ripe tomatoes. If grilling isn’t an option then the tomatoes can be cooked in a pan on a medium high heat covered with a glass lid and this will help to build up some steam and speed up the cooking process. (I used this method here in this recipe).

The tomatoes are cooked until you see some charring, that’s where the flavors are. Also to get a nice homemade and rustic look forget using a blender instead use a fork or even a pestle to break down the tomatoes. This gives the bhorta an uneven texture that actually taste really good. You can mash more or less to get the consistency you are looking for. If you prefer smooth then go for the extra mashing or even use a blender! Either way it will taste great. I personally prefer to have some chunks of tomato!

Some key tips to making this recipe

The key to a good bhorta is in the mixing of all the ingredients. That’s mixing by hand! Put on some food gloves and mix away. The mixing of the lightly sautéed onions with the charred garlic, roasted red dry chilies, some chopped green chilies and fresh chopped cilantro. Add salt and mustard oil just before mixing the ingredients together. Easy as that really!

There are a few bhorta’s that I favor and tomato bhorta is definitely one of them. Again I think it’s just the simplicity of the dish and the robust flavors that make tomato bhorta unique and the dish never disappoints!

Tomato bhorta has always been a dish that I have been fond of making, because of its use of fresh ingredients also with the ease of making. It’s one of those dishes that you can really enjoy putting together and most of all tomato bhorta is absolutely mouthwatering. If you have had it before then you know what I’m talking about.

This Tomato bhorta can be served as a side dish with rice or roti. I like to even eat it with a beef or chicken curry. A plate of hot steaming rice with some beef/chicken curry and a big spoon of the tomato bhorta. This tomato bhorta recipe is surely a plate full of yum!!

Whats more tomato bhorta is a very simple dish with heaps of flavor and definitely a must try!

The best tomato bhorta recipe

Recipe by Shema Course: SidesCuisine: BangladeshiDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Easy recipe for Tomato Bhorta

Ingredients

• 4-5 large tomatoes or 6-7 small tomatoes (I used small campari tomatoes in this recipe)

• 1 small onion finely sliced

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 5-6 dry red chilies (adjust to heat/spice preference)

• 4-5 green chilies finely chopped (adjust to heat/spice preference)

• Handful of fresh cilantro finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon of mustard oil

Directions

• In a medium sized fry pan add in the washed whole tomatoes
• Cover the pan with a glass lid and cook the tomatoes on a medium-high flame for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes start to soften up and start to get some charring on the outer skin
• Transfer the cooked tomatoes into a medium sized bowl to break the tomatoes down. This can also be done while the tomatoes are in the frying pan. Use a fork or pestle to break the tomatoes.
• In a clean frying pan add a small drizzle of oil (roughly two teaspoons) and add in the sliced onions, garlic and dry red chilies.
• Cook these ingredients for 3-4 mins just to get the chilies to roast, garlic to char and onions to slightly saute
  
• Transfer all these cooked ingredients to a large bowl, add in the salt and mustard oil
• Use food gloves to break the dry chilies and mix with the onions, garlic, green chilies, cilantro, salt and mustard oil
• Add the mashed up tomatoes to the onion mixture
• Use your hand to give a good mix up of all the ingredients combining everything together very well
• At this point you can taste to see if the salt is adequate, add more if needed
• Tomato bhorta is ready to serve with hot steaming rice
• Enjoy!!

Notes

• Bhorta taste good on the day it is made although any left overs can be stored in a airtight container in the refrigerator and eaten within 1-2 days.

Check out more of my tasty bhorta recipes like Aloo bhorta, and Begun bhorta.