Tomato (Tamatar) Powder at Home: From Whole Tomatoes or Skins

The skins you slip off after blanching tomatoes for puree are the cheapest tomato powder you will ever make, and whole tomatoes work too if you have patience and a low oven. This guide covers how to make tomato powder at home from skins or slices, why it turns sticky and how to stop it, and what to do with it: instant soup, tomato rice, popcorn seasoning and a thicker gravy.

How to make tomato powder from skins (the zero-waste way)

If you make puree for the freezer in tomato season, you’re already throwing away the best raw material, because tomato skins are so thin that they dry in a fraction of the time slices need and they carry a surprising amount of the colour. Free powder. Because skins are where spray residue sits, start by washing the whole tomatoes well under running water and rubbing them with your hands before you blanch them, and choose organic or home-grown tomatoes when you can for a powder you’ll eat.

1. Wash 1 kg ripe tomatoes under running water. Cut a small cross in the base of each.
2. Drop them into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then into cold water. The skins will slip off.
3. Use the flesh for puree. Squeeze any pulp off the skins, then spread the skins flat on a tray lined with baking paper, not touching.
4. Dry at 60 to 70 °C for 1.5 to 3 hours in an oven or air fryer on dehydrate mode, until they crumble between your fingers. In hot, dry sun they need a day.
5. Cool for 20 minutes, grind in short bursts and sieve.

Skins from a kilo give only 1 to 2 tablespoons. Small, yes. But it costs nothing, so keep a jar going through the season and add to it every time you make puree.

How to make tomato powder at home from whole tomatoes

This makes more. Firm, meaty tomatoes with less juice dry fastest, while desi tomatoes give the deepest flavour; our desi vs hybrid tomato guide explains the difference at the stall.

1. Wash 1 kg ripe, firm tomatoes and pat them dry. Remove the green stem scar.
2. Cut them into slices 4 to 5 mm thick. Scoop out the seeds and jelly with a teaspoon; they hold a lot of water and slow drying. (Stir the jelly into today’s salan rather than throwing it away.)
3. Lay the slices on trays lined with baking paper in one layer, cut side up.
4. Dry at 60 to 70 °C with the oven door open a crack for 6 to 10 hours, turning them over after 3 hours. An air fryer on dehydrate mode takes 4 to 7 hours per basket.
5. Keep going past the leathery stage. The slices must be crisp and brittle, snapping rather than bending, once cool.
6. Cool completely for 30 minutes, grind in short bursts, sieve and jar at once.

Sun drying is how “sun-dried tomatoes” are made, but those are meant to stay chewy. For powder, sun-dry for 2 to 4 days in very hot, dry weather, then give the pieces 15 to 20 minutes in a warm oven to finish them crisp. Don’t try it in monsoon. Slices stay tacky. Tacky slices grow mould fast. Any piece with fuzzy spots, a sour or alcoholic smell, or dark soft patches is thrown away, not dried harder.

Why tomato powder goes sticky, and how to keep it dry

Sugar and acid. Tomatoes are full of both, and both pull water out of the air, which is why a jar of tomato powder that poured beautifully in April can set into a red brick by July, especially if it sits near the stove.

• Grind only when cold and brittle. Warm pieces grind into a paste that never dries properly.
• Use small jars. Fill several jars of 50 g and open one at a time.
• Add a moisture catcher. A tablespoon of raw rice tied in muslin sits happily in the jar.
• Freeze the spare. In humid months, keep the backup jar in a sealed bag in the freezer and let it reach room temperature before opening, so no water condenses inside.

If it has already set, crumble it onto a tray, warm it at 60 °C for 10 to 15 minutes, cool it and grind it again. Stored well, homemade tomato powder keeps its colour and taste for about 6 months in a cupboard and longer in the freezer. A musty smell, spots or damp clumps that won’t break mean it goes in the bin.

Homemade tomato powder uses: soup, rice, snacks and gravy

As a rough guide, about 1 tablespoon of powder gives the flavour of one medium tomato, and 1 tablespoon stirred into 2 tablespoons of water makes something close to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. It won’t give you the juicy bulk of fresh tomatoes in a bhuna masala, but it’s brilliant wherever you want tomato taste without extra water.

How to make instant tomato soup powder at home

1. Mix 4 tablespoons tomato powder, 1 tablespoon cornflour, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or crushed kasuri methi.
2. Store in a dry, airtight jar for up to 3 months.
3. For one cup, whisk 2 heaped tablespoons of the mix into 250 ml cold water, then bring to a boil, stirring, and simmer for 2 minutes until it thickens.
4. Finish with a spoon of cream or a few croutons if you like.

You control the salt here, and that matters. Shop soup sachets can carry a large share of a day’s sodium in one mug, which our guide to reading packet masala labels helps you check.

Three more ways to use it

• Tomato rice: temper zeera, curry leaves and green chilli in 2 tablespoons oil, stir in 2 tablespoons tomato powder with a splash of water for 30 seconds, then fold through 3 cups of cooked rice with salt.
• Popcorn and chips seasoning: 1 tablespoon tomato powder, 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon chaat masala and a pinch of sugar, tossed over warm popcorn with a little melted butter so it sticks.
• Thicker gravy: a teaspoon or two stirred into a thin salan in the last 5 minutes deepens the colour and body without more cooking.

Myth: tomato seeds in the powder cause kidney stones

It’s a common worry. We’ve covered it in full in do tomato seeds cause kidney stones, so here’s the short version for powder-makers: remove the seeds because they slow drying and make the powder gritty, not out of fear. If you’ve been told to limit particular foods for stones or kidney disease, follow your own doctor’s list.

One more fact, about the colour. Tomatoes get their red from lycopene, a pigment that the body takes up more easily from cooked or dried tomato eaten with a little oil than from raw slices on a plate, and that’s a nice bonus of tomato powder in a tempered rice, not a reason to eat it by the spoonful.

What about tomato powder for the face? Be careful. Tomato is acidic, and on some skins it stings, reddens or leaves dark patches, particularly before going out in the sun. Our tomato facial guide explains that risk, and a concentrated powder doesn’t make it gentler. If you still try a pack, patch test on the inner arm for 24 hours and never use it on broken skin. There’s more like this in our Zero-Waste Kitchen section.

Tomato powder questions, answered