Tomato Rice

I had a lot of requests from friends for the recipe of Tomato Rice. Been meaning to post this recipe from a while. This is another variety of flavoured rice that you would enjoy in Southern India, very flavourful.

It is popularly known as Takkali (Tomato) Saadam (Rice) in Tamil Nadu (A state in Southern part of India). Also known as Tomato Bhath in the Northern part of India. Bhath means rice in Hindi and Marathi.

It’s a lunchtime favourite. I have often carried it for lunch to work and have seen a lot of co-workers getting this in their lunch-boxes as well. Easy to prepare and carry. My mum usually packs this for a meal when we have to make a journey by train.

It is also possible to make Tomato rice from leftover rice from the previous day. Will post that recipe sometime soon. There is a variation to this recipe that I had posted a while back called Mint flavoured Tomato rice. Do try it out as well if you are bored with this normal Tomato rice recipe.

A lot of people have been asking me why Indian cooking involves so many ingredients and takes a lot of time. The sole reason Indian food is spicy and flavourful is that there is blend of many ingredients, some which add both flavour as well as spice.

I love hot & spicy food, so do most Indians. Hence most of my recipe’s may tend to be a bit on the hotter side for many of you. So for those who are not used to hot & spicy food, please moderate the chilli mentioned in the recipe as per your taste. 🙂

Ingredients: (Serves 3)         Preparation Time: 15-20 mins
Raw Rice – 100 gms, washed and kept aside
Tomatoes – 2 medium-sized, chopped into cubes
Red Onions – 2 medium-sized, chopped
Garlic cloves – 2 medium-sized, chopped finely
Green chilli – 2 medium-sized, slit
Bay leaves – 1 small, cut into 2
Cloves – 2-3
Cinnamon stick – a small piece
Dried Red Chilli – 1, cut into 2
Red Chilli powder (optional) – if the spice from the green chilli, red chilli is not sufficient
Turmeric powder – half tsp
Coriander powder – half tbsp
Cumin/Jeera powder – half tbsp
Curry leaves – 1-2 sprigs
Coriander leaves – 2-3 sprigs finely chopped
Cooking Oil – 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a pot set to medium heat. Add the bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon stick and fry for a minute or so. Add the green chilli’s & sauté them till they being to change colour..Add the chopped garlic and sauté for about 20 seconds. Next add the chopped onions, sprinkle some salt to enhance the time required to fry the onions. Add the turmeric and fry. Fry till the onions turn a little transparent. Add coriander, cumin powder and mix well. fry for over a minute.

Add the chopped tomatoes and mix them. Do not fry the tomatoes too much. Within a minute after you add the tomatoes add the washed rice and curry leaves. Mix well. Check the spice. If required add some red chilli powder and mix. Add water, measure would be twice the amount of rice added. Add salt to taste. Mix well. Close the lid of the pot once the water starts to boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10-12 mins.

Check the rice, it should be cooked and the water should have evaporated. Let it cool for about 10 mins.

Garnishing:
Add chopped coriander leaves ,mix gently as you do not want to break the rice grains.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve hot along with some yoghurt / raita.

Looking for more Indian flavoured rice recipe’s? Do check out my other recipe’s like – Lemon Flavoured Rice, Special Prawn Biryani, Microwave Peas Pilaf with Spring Onion Raita, more…

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