Spicy Tomato Rice: Lazy People's Version

Spicy Tomato Rice

“If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; if it deals you tomatoes, make Bloody Marys”
~Anonymous

Nah… The recipe for Bloody Marys is not you will find here but a bowl of Spicy Tomato Rice.

Our weekend trip to farmers market found us, errr, ogling at those juicy, ripe and plump tomatoes in all avatars. So it was no surprise that we came back with a bag filled with cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, vine tomatoes, roma tomatoes and common tomatoes (the one which is used in daily cooking is called common tomato in my dictionary. Got it?).

Without a shadow of doubt Tomato Rice got included in list of 'Tomato Menu Week'! After long working weekday at office, juggling meetings, project deadlines, running around to sort some personal work, we both reached home tired, sleepy and famished! And to our (un)luck there was no leftovers in fridge or freezer except for some leftover rice from last night! ~sighs~ It won’t be the last time I wish I could order some good from takeaway but decided not to shell out our hard earned money on foul smelling red gravy topped with half a bottle of cheap oil!


So we decided to make Lazy People’s Tomato Rice. Well, we can afford to be lazy sometimes, right? Since few of days back British summer has turned into rainy season, we were craving for something hot and spicy. I decided to use ready made Garam Masala powder instead of preparing masala powder from scratch. Since I always keep small bottle of grated ginger in fridge along with a pack of Ginger-Garlic paste, all I had to do was chop some onions, tomatoes and green chillies. Just a handful of herbs and pinches of spices, we had big bowl of steaming, spicy and very delicious Tomato Rice in minutes. The spicy and hot kick comes from ginger, green chillies, wee bit of garam masala and red chilli powder. If you don’t want to add garam masala then you can either increase the quantity of red chilli powder or use sambar powder/rasam powder/vangi bhath masala or any other spice powder you prefer. Since I like burst of different shades of colours in my plate, I added good handful of frozen green peas and few spoonfuls of cashew nuts fried in little ghee. You can simply substitute peas with sweet corn or any other vegetable of your choice or simply omit them. And similarly substitute cashew nuts with few spoonfuls of roasted peanuts for added crunch. Over all it turned out to be a very satisfying and delicious meal with spoonful of thick yogurt, pickle and papads. Try this when you are not in a mood to cook elaborate meals or short of time and see how lazy people’s Tomato Rice can turn into simple pleasures!

Tomato Masala for Spicy Tomato Rice

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Spicy Tomato Rice (Basmati Rice flavoured with a base gravy of aromatic spices, delightful herbs and tangy tomatoes)
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins (If using leftover rice) to 30 mins (If making fresh rice)
Serves: 3-4
Recipe Level: Medium
Spice Level: Medium to Hot
Serving Suggestion: As it is or with any Raita or Yogurt

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Ingredients:
2 cups Rice or 6-8 cups Cooked Rice (Preferably Basmati or Sona Masuri)
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
¾-1 cup Green Peas, fresh/frozen (Optional)
1-2 tbsp Tomato Paste or 2 Tomatoes, pureed
3-5 large Tomatoes, finely chopped or 1-1½ cans of Chopped Tomato
3-4 Green Chillies, finely chopped (Adjust acc to taste)
1 inch cube Ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Spices Used:
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
3 Cloves
½-1 tsp Garam Masala (Optional)
½-1 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Channa Dal/Split Bengal Gram
1 tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
1-2 Dry Red Chillies, cut into 1 inch pieces
1-2 springs of Curry Leaves
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
2-3 tbsp Cashew Nuts
1 tbsp Ghee/Clarified Butter
1 tbsp Oil

Spicy Tomato Rice

Method:

If cooking rice from scratch, wash rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Drain all the water and add 4 cups of water to the bowl and keep it aside for at least 20 minutes. Transfer rice and water into a microwave safe bowl or pressure cooker and cook covered for 17-20 minutes (in microwave) or 2-3 whistles on medium flame (in pressure cooker). Once slightly cooled, add about tbsp of oil or ghee and separate each grain with the help of a fork and keep it aside till needed.
While rice is getting cooked, we can proceed to make tomato base for tomato rice.
Take a pan/wok and add ghee to it. Now add broken cashew nuts and fry them on medium flame till they turn golden brown. Drain and keep them aside till needed.
In a same pan add oil and heat it on medium flame. Next add mustard seeds and let it crackle. Once mustard seeds start to pop and splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves and broken red chillies. Sauté for a minute or two till lentils turn golden brown in colour.
Next add hing and curry leave and sauté for few seconds. Mix in chopped onions, green chillies and ginger and sauté for a minute or two till onions turn translucent.
Mix in finely chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, and red chilli powder and give it a good stir. Cook these tomatoes till they turn pulpy and release their juice, about 5-7 minutes, on medium flame.
Mix in tomato puree or tomato paste, green peas, garam masala and salt to taste. Simmer and let it cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Next, mix in cooled rice, finely chopped coriander leaves and fried cashews and mix them well so that each rice grain is coated with spicy tomato base and every grain is heated through. Switch off the gas and serve this delicious and Spicy Tomato Rice with chilled yogurt or Raita and enjoy!

Spicy Tomato Rice

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Notes:
You can omit or substitute green peas with sweet corns or any other vegetables of your choice.
Addition of cup full of chopped coloured bell peppers also enhances the flavour. Add them just before cooking chopped tomatoes and fry them for a minute or two.
Substitute cashew nuts with small handful of roasted peanuts for crunch.
You can also omit or substitute Garam Masala with Sambar/Rasam/Vangi Bhath powder.