Recipe for Tomato Rice

In India, rice is eaten in many ways. Steamed rice is usually accompanied by dals or veg/non-veg curries, whereas pulavs, biryanis and other rice mixes are dishes that don’t need anything to pair with them. I have already shared the recipes for Chicken Biryani and Mushroom Biryani. Also, I recently shared the recipes for Mint Coriander Pulav and Tamarind Rice. All these rice dishes have one thing in common. They are combined with all the required spices and vegetables/meat, so they are complete in themselves, which means that they don’t necessarily mean another vegetable or meat dish to make them complete. However, often these dishes are paired with raitas ( yoghurt mixed with vegetables/fruits/ etc.).

Tomato rice is a similar recipe, combining steamed rice with a spicy mix of tomatoes. Let’s check out the recipe in detail.

Ingredients needed to make Tomato Rice:

• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp Ghee
• 10-12 Cashews
• ⅓ tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Urad Dal ( Black Gram without skin)
• 1 tsp Chana Dal ( Split Chickpea Lentils)
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tbsp Finely chopped Ginger
• 1 tbsp Finely chopped Garlic
• 3-4 Green Chillies, slit
• 8-10 Curry Leaves
• 1 Medium Sized Onion; chopped
• ½ cup Frozen Peas
• ½ cup Chopped Carrots
• ½ cup Chopped Capsicum
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
• Salt, as per taste
• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 2 Large Tomatoes; pureed
• 4 tbsp Chopped Fresh Coriander Leaves
• 2 tbsp Chopped Fresh Mint Leaves
• Water; 6 cups

Note: I have used only turmeric powder and red chilli powder as the powdered spices in this recipe. You can replace them with sambar powder too. You can decide the quantity of sambar powder as per your taste if you have homemade sambar powder. 1 – 1 ½ tablespoons of shop-bought sambar powder should suffice.

Method to make Tomato Rice:

• Wash and cook the rice in a cooking pot. When the rice is cooked, drain the excess water and let the rice cool.
  
  
  
• In a pan, heat oil and ghee. Add cashews. Fry them on low heat till they turn golden brown.
  
  
  
• Add asafoetida, chana dal, urad dal, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. Fry on low to medium heat for about 15 seconds.
  
  
  
• Add ginger, garlic, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry for about a minute or two on low heat.
  
  
  
• Add onions. Fry till they turn translucent.
  
  
  
• Add peas, carrots and capsicum. Mix well.
  
  
  
• Add bay leaves, salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
  
  
  
• Add tomato puree.
  
  
  
• Lower the heat. Cover with a lid and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Stir it occasionally.
  
  
  
• Now add the cooked rice to this mixture.
  
  
  
• Mix well. Taste and adjust the salt. Garnish with coriander and mint leaves.
  
  
  
• Tomato Rice is ready.
  
  
  

When I made tomato rice, I paired it with cucumber raita.

Check out other recipes from my kitchen here.

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