Running against time? Want to make something real quick and simple? Tomato rice is your answer 🙂 

South Indians are rice lovers and we have a number of interesting ways to consume it! 

Tomato Rice is a one pot meal – quick, delicious and sumptuous !

There are different recipes for tomato rice. Here is my favorite version of it !

INGREDIENTS:

Rice – 1.5 cups – uncooked 

Tomatoes – 2 big ones

Onions – 1

Green chillies  – 1 (or more as per your taste)

Ginger – ½ inch (grated or chopped finely)

Garlic clove – 1 (finely chopped)

Turmeric – a pinch

Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

TEMPERING:

Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

Cloves – 2 to 3

Cinnamon – ½ inch

Bay leaf – 1

Peppercorns – 5 to 6

Star anise – 1

GARNISHING:

Coriander leaves – handful

Mint Leaves – 9-10 leaves

METHOD

Cook rice with 1:2 proportion of water, add a teaspoon of coconut oil and mix gently. Keep it aside.

In a deep bottomed pan, heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil / Ghee. 

Add the spices mentioned under ‘tempering’. After you sauté for a while, you can smell the aroma of the spices. 

Now add  ginger, garlic, green chilli, onions and sauté till onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and sauté for a minute. 

Add salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. The Tomatoes should become soft and mushy. 

Reduce the heat to medium-low and mix the rice well but gently. 

(Quick tip: at this point if you feel the rice looks too sticky or mushy, saute the rice in the pan on medium for some more time)

After mixing the rice, add the chopped coriander and mint leaves. Now close the lid of the pan. Keep the rice on the flame with low heat for about 5 to 8 minutes. 

The aroma of the coriander and mint leaves adds great flavour to the rice.  

Enjoy this dish with raita and Salad 🙂