Tomato Rice

Waking up late on a weekday morning and finding that there has not been any preparation done the previous day for today’s cooking... And there’s not much time left for cutting vegetables and cooking something elaborate..... Even making rice and then mixing garnishing - like chitranna takes more time because it’s a two step process.....

It is in such critical times that this tomato rice comes as a blessing. With hardly any preparation and very quick recipe, your job will be done in less than 15 minutes. And the rest is for the pressure cooker to cook the rice and then cool down, to let you pack your lunch boxes. A bit of alterations here and there can give a bit of variety too. And it does taste good even when it’s cold at lunch time.

And if you have demanding kids, who want a different colored food everyday, then you can easily lure them to eat this ‘red’ colored pulav :)

Tomato Rice

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Red, ripe tomatoes - 3 medium sized, cut into halves/quarters Onion - 1 medium sized, chopped (optional) Potato - 1 small, cut into pcs (optional) Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Cinnamon - 4-5 small pcs Cloves - 4-5 Pepper - 8-10 Rice - 2 cups (preferably Basmati), uncooked Water - 2 – 2 ½ cups Salt - ½ Tsp or as per taste Red chili powder - ½ Tsp (optional) Green chilies - 3-4, slit, depending on taste Ginger - 1" cube Coriander - 1 Tbsp, chopped Method: • Make a puree of tomatoes, sieve it and keep the smooth puree ready • Heat oil in a pressure pan and add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves and pepper • After half a minute, add the slit green chilies, cut onion and potato sauté for 2-3 minutes • Add tomato puree and sauté for 3-4 more minutes. Ensure the puree comes to a gentle boil and the raw smell of tomato goes off • Add washed basmati rice to the pan and sauté for a minute • Add red chili powder if you want a spicier version • Add water and salt and cook in the pressure pan till 2 whistles • Serve it hot, optionally with any raita. Tastes good even after it is cooled. Tips n Tricks: • Ensure the raw small of tomato is gone, by letting it boil for a couple of minutes. Or alternatively, the tomatoes can be boiled once and then pureed • Adjust the spices to your taste since we’re using green chilies, red chili powder, ginger and pepper Variations: • Potatoes can be excluded to give a different taste