Tomato Saar or the Indian take on Tomato Soup

This is a really fragrant take on tomato soup, which I love to eat with thick slices of toast or chapattis.

3 tomatoes
2 chilies, slit vertically into 2-4 pieces
2 tsp jeera
1 tsp ghee or cooking oil
5-6 whole peppercorns
6-7 curry leaves
1 tsp asafoetida
around 1 cm of ginger cut into thin slices
salt to taste
sugar to taste
1 tbsp fresh finely chopped coriander

Make a cross shaped incision on the top of the tomatoes. Set enough water to boil so that when the tomatoes are immersed, the top of the tomatoes are covered. When the water boils, add the tomatoes. Let the water continue boiling till the top skin of the tomatoes peels off. Let the tomatoes cool a bit and then peel the skin off. Put the tomatoes in a blender and puree the mixture.

In a kadhai / wok, heat the ghee / oil . Add the asafoetida, the peppercorns,curry leaves and jeera seeds. After the jeera seeds sizzle, add the tomato puree. Add the ginger slices, chilies, salt and sugar. Wait till the tomato mixture boils and add around 2 cups of water. One can add a can of coconut milk instead of the water for a creamier tomato saar that can be eaten with rice. Turn the heat on low and let it cook till it boils once more.
Season with the finely chopped coriander before serving.