Tomato Rice- The Best I have ever Eaten!!

Of late M and I reminisce a lot about our brief stay in Bangalore.. and of course we end up talking of the awesome food we ate there! M always boasted to me about the AWESOME food one could eat only in Bangalore .
After just a few meals I was convinced! There was something so heartening about the meals I ate! The taste ! The aroma!

Growing up, pulav, biryani were regulars at home and also our choice when dining out. It was not until Sanjeev Kapoor made Tomato Rice on his famous show Khana Khazana that this rice dish got any recognition (with us). The hastily scribbled recipe was then shoved in some book and labelled as 'try later' ..

We did experiment with a few recipes, each one was 'good', but there was nothing exceptional about it. Let me go so far as saying, there was nothing really noteworthy about those recipes.. just like one of those Hindi movies, a strictly one-watch.. NO more!

Then last week, prowling thru the cookbook aisle in the library, I spied 'Dakshin' by Chandra Padmanabhan... flipping thru the pages I drooled over the recipes and the pictures. THIS was what I was looking for!

What can I say about the book? For those who have tried recipes from this book need no recommendation and for those ( late comers like me) I have just one thing to say... GO GET IT!!!

The first recipe I tried was the Tomato Rice, one look at the ingredients list had me thoroughly convinced that 'this' was the 'exceptional' recipe I was looking for!!

I followed the recipe to the T. The result was this AMAZING tasting rice, we overate, nothing else was even glanced at!

The best part was a happy and beaming M giving me a thumbs up and declaring this as 'the best' and declaring that my (the adapted recipe, that is) recipe was LOADS better than even Bangalore! Now, for me, that is a HUGE compliment! M is a devotee of Bangalore food, swears by it! So his compliments are my treasure!

The taste left a lingering memory which compelled me to try it again within a week and this time I made sure we had enough for our lunch box too!

A keeper, this one... as most from the book! I cannot wait to try some more from this treasure trove!!

You need:

1 cup Long grain Rice
4 large Tomatoes , Chopped

2 Med. Onions chopped
2 Green chilies finely chopped
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Turmeric


MASALA

2 tsp Oil

6 Red Chilies (less if you prefer it mild)
2 tsp. Coriander Seeds
1/4 tsp. Fenugreek seeds
3 tsp. Channa daal (Bengal gram)
1 tsp. Urad daal (washed black gram)
1/2 tsp Asafetida
2 tblsp Flaked Coconut


TEMPERING
2 tblsp Oil
2 tblsp Ghee
1 tsp Mustard seeds
2 tblsp Raw peanuts
Few curry leaves

Cook the rice, spread on a platter to cool

Blend the tomatoes in a lender, strain the juice an set aside

For the Masala: Hat 2 t oil, add red chillies, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, chana daal, urad daal, asafetida and coconut. Saute for 2-3 mins. Blend to a fine paste ( I sauteed the masala using just a few drops of oil and ground it in my spice blender and then mixed a bit of water in it to make a paste).

To a heavy saucepan add the tomato juice, salt to taste and turmeric. simmer till the mixture thickens, add the masala paste, mix thoroughly . Set aside

Heat 2 t oil & 2 t ghee, add the mustard seeds, raw peanuts and curry leaves.

When the mustard seeds splutter add the green chillies and onions. Saute till golden in color. Add tomato juice and rice. Mix thoroughly. Serve hot with the usual accompaniment of papad.

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