Monday, January 14, 2008

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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30 comments:

amna said...

wow! this is definitely a recipe with a twist. nice :)

Red Chillies said...

Wow Mansi, that sounds amazing. EVen though I am from Bangalore, I can never make a good tomato rice. Now that I read through your recipe, I think I understand what I Was missing. The wonderful masala. I will surely give this a try.

Sowjanya Yinti said...

I am a sucker for tomato rice. I think I have to try this version soon :)

evolvingtastes said...

The tomato rice from 'Dakshin' is indeed superb, I agree.

Lakshmi said...

My MIL adds mint leaves+cinnamon+cloves to the above recipe. It tastes good too. We all love tomato rice at home and speaking about Bangalore and its lovely food. I love that place, if we ever go back and settle in Bangalore I have promised myself that I would never cook at night. Eat out, eat hot, eat tasty food in Bangalore!! :D

Sig said...

oh another Bangalore food fan... We still talk about the food scene in Bangalore even though its almost been a decade... We still try to go there for a couple of days, during our India trips though... The tomato rice looks great, I have heard so much about that book, I have to find a copy now :)

Shella said...

Hey Mansi, though I have made a lot of tomato rice, this is new. I will surely try it.

Sia said...

better than b'lore food??? u have convinced me enough to buy that book mansi:) i am cooking tomato rice this weekend and will let u know how it turns.

Rachel said...

looks lovely and I shall look out for that book :)

Nupur said...

I agree with you: the Dakshin tomato rice is absolutely delicious...I made it several weeks ago and loved it. Your picture looks mouth-watering for sure.
I have enjoyed almost everything I made from this book, although I will say that almost invariably I have to modify the recipe to simplify it and drastically reduce the number of steps.

Finla said...

Yummm the tomato rice looks so delicious. Looking at the picture i could just taste them.

Pooja said...

I made it just a week ago, for the first time from the recipe of Seema of recipejunction..blogspot.com.
This one looks the same as i made just that i had little red color, I think that is bcoz i didnt use turmeric powder. I just love this kind of dishes very much , hubby says I should have born in some where south India to enjoy such dishes in daily life :))
thnaks for sharing your dish dear, picture looks good too :) .
Keep blogging.
-Pooja

Anonymous said...

I love tomato rice.I concocted a similar recipe a couple of weeks back with a pinch of sambar masala. Also fresh chopped tomatoes taste wonderful too...next time give that a try!

Manasi said...

Hi Nags! Thank U .. it is different from the North indian version, but trust me , u'll love this one!

Hi Red Chillies! Oh U r from B'lore!! Lucky - M says!! Do try this! Hope u like it!

Hi Sowjanya! DO try it,hope u like it!

Hi Evolving tastes! Aha! U have made this too!

Manasi said...

Hi Taste of Mysore! hmm, mint, clove and cinnamon.. col! & u r so right, u could eat out every night in B'lore, all that YUMMY food!

Hi Sig! Oh Yes!! Try to get ur hands on this book, its worth it!!

Hi Shella! This is a variation worth trying!

Hi Sia!! Hehehe, I call it 'M ka pyar' factor.. but the recipe is a winner! Hope u like it!

Hi Nupur!! Thank U!! I have not tried to modify or simplify any recipe coz it was my first attempt at a recipe from this book, and I felt that after making the paste, it all kinda fell into place.. I cannot wait to try some more !!

Hi Happy Cook! Thank U so much!

Hi Pooja, Thnk U so much! I believe the red color is a result of using Byadgi chillies, I do not get those here :(

Hi Sowhatsnewtoday!! Thank U !! I have another variation to try!! I will give the sambar masala a try!!

Richa said...

looks very tempting, gotta' try this one!
so the tomato juice is not cooked, right?

Manasi said...

Hi Richa!! The tomato paste is cooked, u need to cook it and add the ground masala paste to it..

bee said...

i've had mixed results with dakshin. some of her recipes like masala beans poriyal (we have it on our blog) are outstanding. some, not so much.

Anonymous said...

Chandra's tomato rice is the one I always make and everyone loves it...Like Bee said, some recipes in ehr bookare outstanding like this one and some others are ok....
Rev

Raks said...

I love tomato rice and will try this out next time!

Mansi said...

looks great Manasi! I have been hooked on to Tomato rice too after my hubby made it for me once:) we just make it more fancy by adding onions, capsicums and stuff:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Manasi,
Since your hubby has given it "Exceptional" rating,I will surely try this variety on Sunday next.
Keep it up.
Kulkarni

Sagari said...

nice recipe mansi very yummy and comforting

Manju said...

WOW!! this defenitely looks good..tomato rice at home never involved so many masalas...it was mainly basic tadka, tomatoes, onion and green chillies. this one defenitely is a must try!!

KayKat said...

Mmm ... bangalore food.

You've convinced me to try out the tomato rice recipe from Dakshin - I was not wowed by a couple of other recipes I used from there, but it is time to try it again :)

Shweta said...

What a coincidence! I just bought 'Dakshin' during my India trip... tried rava idlis this weekend from the book and added Tomato rice to my things-to-cook-during-the-week list on the fridge :) I have never eaten tomato rice before but the recipe looked mouthwatering. now with your thumbs-up I cannot wait to make it!

Meena Shankar said...

Hi,
Back in bangalore and so couldnot check your blog regularly..
Now i logged in and saw the yummy Tomato rice recipe..somehow my tomato rice was never tasty though I tried different versions.
But seeing yours, I think this surely will taste great. Thanks for the recipe. I shall bring this to reality in my home very soon.

Luv,
Meena.

Unknown said...

Hi Manasi,

I made it yest and LOVED it.
The moment I had prepared masala, i knew it was going to be right, because of the wonderful and authentic "south indian" smell !

Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I like your blog a lot and yours is one of the select blogs that I visit EVERY day to see what new u have, and also to browse through old posts to see what interesting thing I can make :)

Keep blogging dear!
-Archana

Anonymous said...

Tomato really does add amazing flavor to rice. I also like the other ingredients you incorporated into your tasty recipe. I would love to feature your recipe on our Demy, the first and only digital recipe reader. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if you're interested. Thanks!

Sonal said...

Was searching for Tomato Rice Recipe and came across this - made it today - and it turned out yummy. Thanks a lot :)

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