Each year as spring comes around, I start to contemplate what tomato seedlings to plant in my backyard planters.

All four of them.

Yup, that’s it. That’s all I have room for in my tiny yard.

Three of my four planters call for some mulling. But with the last one, there is never a doubt. That one is reserved for Sungolds, the bright orange cherry tomatoes that pop with as much sweetness as candy.

Many of them actually go straight into my mouth, plucked from the branches one by one while I’m still pitter-pattering in the yard. (Don’t tell my husband.) But some do make it into my kitchen, where they’re destined for green salads, grain salads, pasta dishes, and ricotta toast.

Thanks to New York’s Rachel Gurjar, a Mumbai-born chef, recipe developer, and food writer who attended the Culinary Institute of America, though, I now have another showcase for these itty-bitty tomatoes with the outsized flavor.

Her “Paneer with Sungold Tomatoes and Basil” is like an Indian riff on the classic Italian Caprese salad. It not only subs in the fresh Indian cheese known as paneer for the mozzarella, but adds a pinch of cumin seeds for earthy savoriness. It’s not served cold or at room temp, either, but cozy warm, too.

This inspired recipe is from her debut cookbook, “East to East” (Chronicle Books), of which I received a review copy

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