Tomato Choka
This authentic Trinidadian Tomato Choka is going to take you an easy 20 minutes to make. It only takes a few quality ingredients that you most likely have in your kitchen. This tasty Choka is perfect as a side dish for any meal, and be served with rice, roti and bake
Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
- Chefs Knife
- Cutting Board
- Pan
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 5 roma tomatoes
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ½ hot pepper habanero or scotch bonnet
- 3 pimentos diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon culantro *see notes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and wash all of your vegetables. Give the tomatoes a rough chop into quarters. The red bell peppers, onion, and pimento should all be diced. Mince the garlic and cilantro. Lastly, slice the hot pepper into quarters or the preferred amount.
- Heat a pan on medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add the onions, garlic, half of the red bell pepper, half the pimento pepper, and half of the cilantro. Let the ingredients sauté for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften.
- When the onions start to brown, add the tomatoes. Add the sugar, salt, and black pepper. Stir everything together really well.
- Mash the tomatoes. Cover the pan with a lid and allow it to simmer for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, assess if the choka is at the preferred consistency. If not, add more water to make it saucy and continue to simmer until desired consistency.
- Add the rest of the red bell pepper, cilantro, and pimentos. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the red bell pepper softens.
- Serve warm with roti, fry bake, or rice.
Notes
Tomato Choka stores well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. If you open the container and it smells rancid, toss it out.