What is Tomato Powder?
Tomato powder began as a ready-made product, essentially a ready-made tomato sauce or paste. However, it can be used as a seasoning that can be added to everything from sauces and vegetables to rice, meat, and fish. Tomato powder is a spice when used in powdered form without rehydration. A spice is any dried part of a plant, other than the leaves, including the seeds, stems, bark, roots, and fruit, that has been dried and used as a flavoring. Tomato powder is made by drying tomatoes and then grinding them into a fine powder. Typically, it's the tomato skins, without the seeded fleshy interior, that are used to make tomato powder. Think of sun-dried tomatoes, only drier and finely powdered.
What are the Benefits of Tomato Powder?
Tomatoes are a very beneficial food containing the minerals iron, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus, as well as vitamins A, B, and C. They help eliminate gallstones and kidney stones. . They are good for arteriosclerosis. They ensure regular functioning of the stomach and intestines, and they relieve constipation.
What Does Tomato Powder Taste Like?
Powdered tomato powder offers a pure tomato flavor with all the bright, complex acidity you expect from tomatoes, but concentrated in a powdered form. It's like the essence of the tomato. When reconstituted, it's as delicious as tomato paste or tomato sauce. You can cook it and add salt and other spices to intensify the flavors and caramelize the sugars.
How to Cook with Tomato Powder?
There are two main ways to cook with tomato powder. Arguably the most exciting way to use it is as a spice. You can add it to seasonings, sprinkle it on chicken and fish before frying, or add it as a condiment or garnish to stir-fries and other root vegetables, bread dough, or cooked rice, pasta, vegetables, or eggs. When added to soups, it imparts a deep, intense tomato flavor. You can also use tomato powder as an instant tomato paste This is definitely handy when a recipe calls for a small amount of tomato paste, like 1 tablespoon, and you'll end up with most of a can, which will inevitably mold in the refrigerator. Instead, combine equal parts tomato powder and hot water to equal the amount of tomato paste you need. For example, to make 1 4 cup tomato paste, you'd combine 2 tablespoons of tomato powder and 2 tablespoons of hot water. You can adjust the ratios to make your paste thicker or thinner. You can even make tomato sauce, tomato juice, or tomato soup in the same way.
How Many Calories Does Tomato Powder Have?
One tablespoon (about 0.75 grams) of tomato powder provides 2 calories, along with negligible amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fat, and fiber. It also provides small amounts of potassium, beta-carotene, lycopene, and vitamin A.
How to Store Tomato Powder?
The best way to store tomato powder is to store it next to your dried herbs and spices. Keep the container covered and store in a cool, dry place. Tomato powder tends to absorb moisture, so if your container is large enough, you can place a small amount of uncooked rice in a mesh bag or bag and store it in the tomato powder package. Like all dried spices, tomato powder will begin to lose some of its flavor after about six months, but it will still function. Refrigeration will extend its shelf life almost indefinitely.
Where is tomato powder used?
You can use it in Kisir (fried meatballs), Batik (batirik), salads, soups, pastries, pasta and rice dishes, breakfast cheese spreads, meat, chicken, fish, and meatball mixtures, during babies' transition to solid food, and in appetizers, stuffed vegetables, or stews.
