Easy Tomato Rice
A quick, easy and forgiving recipe for South Indian style Tomato rice. All you need is leftover cooked rice, tomatoes, onions and spices from the pantry.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- A saucepan or kadhai/wok
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups Cooked steamed Rice/ Chawal I used Basmati, use any kind of rice, leftover would work too
- 1 Red Onion/ Pyaaz large, sliced or chopped
- 1 Sprig of Curry Leaves/ Kadi Patta Washed, patted dry
- 3 Tomatoes/ Tamatar large, approx 300 grams, chopped or puréed
- 1 Green Chilli/ Hari Mirch Use 2 for a hotter/spicier rice
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger/ adrak finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Coconut/Peanut/Sesame Oil/ Tel Sub with any vegetable oil of choice
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds/Rai/Sarson
- 1 tsp Urad Dal
- 1 tsp Chana Dal
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli/ Lal Mirch Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric/ Haldi Powder
- 2 tsp Coriander Seeds/ Dhaniya Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala optional
- 1/4 cup Water
- 2-3 tbsp Fresh Green Coriander Leaves/ Dhaniya patti use stems and leaves
Instructions
- Start by gathering all ingredients. Prep the vegetables before you start cooking. Peel and slice or chop the red onions, chop or puree the tomatoes, slit the green chillies, finely chop the ginger and finely chop the coriander stems and leaves.
- Place a big kadhai/wok or sauce pan on medium heat. Add oil and once it heats up add mustard seeds. Wait for the mustard seeds to pop and crackle.
- Next, add the chana dal and cook for 30 to 40 seconds or till you see it starts changing colour to light brown. Follow with the urad dal and cook for a few seconds till you see that the dals turn golden brown. Now add the chopped ginger and sliced green chilli. Be careful of splashes.
- Cook for 2 more minutes and then add the chopped onions and curry leaves. Stir to evenly coat in the hot oil.
- Cook the onions till they start becoming translucent. Follow by adding the tomatoes, either puréed or chopped.
- Once you have added the tomatoes add the seasonings -salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and coriander powder. The salt helps to cook and soften the tomatoes faster and the spices need to cook in the oil for sometime. Turn the heat to medium low so that the spices don’t burn. Stir these in and let it cook for 2 more minutes.
- Once you see the tomatoes softening or leaving some oil on the sides, add water and let the mixture simmer for 2-3 minutes. Once that is done, add the cooked/steamed rice and mix well. You can cover the kadhai/pan with a lid and let it cook for 5 minutes on low heat.
- Open the lid, sprinkle garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Serve tangy tomato rice with a side of papad, dahi or salad for a satisfying meal.
Notes
- I’ve tried this recipe with both chopped and puréed tomatoes and discovered that puréed tomatoes coat the rice better and more evenly. But if you don’t use a food processor it is perfectly fine if you use chopped tomatoes, just make sure the tomatoes are ripe and finely chopped. Juicier ripe tomatoes break down easily when salt is added to them.
- The variety of tomatoes you use, beef or roma or the Indian desi that is super juicy and tangy, also may affect cooking times and flavour. I mostly use roma tomatoes that I find easily in the supermarket near me. I’d love to use the desi (Indian) variety which is tangier than any other I know but I seldom get my hands on them here in Dubai. You can use whichever tomatoes you like.
- If you like, you can use garlic to this recipe. Add a couple of few cloves, chopped when you add the ginger.