The seasonal hike in the price of tomato is upon us again, and it wasn’t a nice experience for Muslims who had a lot of heavy cooking to do for the just concluded Eid.

While we hope and pray Jagaban does something about it, these hacks will help you save more while having enough stew in your pot.

Carrots

Source: Guardian

Buy as many carrots as you want — they’re really cheap — clean them properly, slice and blend with some equally cheap rodo. The taste and colour will be the same as your average tomato puree.

Tomato paste

Source: Pricepally

This is the ultimate lifesaver in these trying times. And if you’re worried about retaining the spice in your soup, go for the sachet variants with pepper. 

Dried red chilli

Source: Kitchen Butterly

You’ll mostly find traders from the north selling this at your local market. It’s cheaper and a great supplement for a fuller pot of soup. Rehydrate it by soaking in hot water for some minutes before blending.

Cameroon pepper

Source: Safoodnspices

With as little as ₦50 – 100, you’ll get all the spice even the almighty ata rodo can’t bring to the table. Consider these for soups like ogbono and egusi, or when you want to make concoction rice.

Dried rodo and tatashe mix

Source: Kitchenbutterfly

This is an economical option for making stew and all kinds of sauces. But you have to remove the seeds and rehydrate the flesh with water before use.

Sombo or bawa

Source: GidiMart

Also known as cayenne pepper, sombo is a great option for thickening your stew and giving that bright red colour. It’s also cheaper than tatashe.

Barkono

If you’re looking to make grilled turkey, fish or chicken, you must be Dangote’s son. But if for some reason, you still can’t afford tomatoes, this pepper will save you the extra bucks. It’s much cheaper than your regular pepper mix and can be found at your local market.

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