Tomato Rice

Tomato rice –A super easy recipe of delicious garlicky rice cooked with Indian masalas and plenty of tomatoes.

Ingredients

Rice – 1 & ½ cup

Water – 3 & ½ cups

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Tomato – 8 medium, finely chopped

Tomato – 1 medium, whole (optional)

Garlic – 25 cloves

Green chilies – 8, mildly hot variety

Coriander leaves – ¾ cup + some more for garnish

Curry leaves – 4

Oil – ⅓ cup

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 20

Asafoetida – ¼ tsp

Kashmiri red chili powder – 1 and ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder –1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Instructions

Wash rice and soak it for 30 minutes. Drain it.

Grind together garlic, green chilies and coriander seeds to a coarse paste.

Heat oil in a sipri or stock pot. Add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add asafetida.

Add the fenugreek seeds and fry for a few seconds. Take care not to burn them.

Add the onion and sauté till it begins to turn golden.

Add the ground paste and sauté on medium heat till the raw sell of garlic goes away.

Add the chopped tomatoes and salt.Cook till they get mushy.

Add the spices when the oil separates – Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric powder, and coriander powder. Cook till the raw smell of turmeric goes away.

Add the rice and sauté with the masalas for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle some water if it looks too dry.

Add water and adjust the salt. Let the water come to a boil.

When only ⅓ of the water is left, keep a whole tomato in the center and push it into the rice. Also, place the curry leaves on top.

Cover and cook on low flame for 10 minutes. Turn off the flame and let the rice stand for another 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice up and mash the tomato slightly. Garnish with some coriander leaves.

Tomato rice is ready. Serve hot with papad or raita. Enjoy!