Tomatoes: Photography, Recipes and Quotes

"Learn to shoot in Manual mode," said Aparna, in her session on Food Photography in our Indian Food Bloggers' Meet. And I have taken it quite seriously. My camera setting has been on Manual for the last few days. 

Today, when a small basketful of tomatoes, plucked from the garden, needed a good wash before stowing them away carefully, I decided to click a few pictures of them. And at 80 Rs a kilo, tomatoes have become precious commodity, a treasure quite deserving their own little photo shoot. I have not edited the photos, thereby trying to preserve the mood and the light they have been shot in, one odd photo has been cropped though. All photos have been shot in natural light, of course :)

It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.
Lewis Grizzard

Tried this 2 minute, 2-ingredient pasta sauce? 

“You're always such a disappointment, Augustus. Couldn't you have at least gotten orange tomatoes?”

This South Indian tomato chutney promises to make your idlis, dosas and even curd-rice taste so much better!

I don't care what anybody says: Nothing is better than a tomato you grow. There's something about it that's different than a tomato you can buy. It's a great thing.
Tom Vilsack

Beautifully imperfect

When you cut that eggplant up and you roast it in the oven and you make the tomato sauce and you put it on top, your soul is in that food, and there's something about that that can never be made by a company that has three million employees.
Mario Batali

Basking in the mellow morning light

Given that tomato prices are sky-rocketing in most parts of India, I know that this is not the best time to be sharing tomato recipes. When there was a similar crazy price hike last year, I wrote a column for Mint on alternatives to tomatoes in Indian cooking and we did come up with quite a list which you may find useful.