This fragrant and gently spicy tomato rice is inspired by the South Indian-style rice dish. Aromatics, tomatoes, and spices simmer before getting tossed with basmati rice. The rice gets its flavor from mustard seeds, hing, and a handful of ground spices. Don’t forget the toasted peanuts and cilantro!
Do you like rice? Despite growing up in a rice-loving family, I’ve never really loved it unless it was cooked in an interesting way. Luckily Indian cuisine has a huge variety of rice dishes. If you’re a fan of the well-known biryani, I’d highly recommend trying some others. I wanted to make one of my favorite South Indian rice dishes, tomato rice, but I moved recently and didn’t have some of the essentials, like curry leaves or some of the whole spices. And although I really would like to do a region’s food justice, sometimes convenience wins and that’s ok.
Here you start with mustard seeds and chana dal, then onion, garlic, and the best tomatoes you can find. Let that simmer before adding a few spices. Kashmiri chili adds a gorgeous color to the rice. Then I added some cooked and cooled basmati rice, but you can also cook the rice in same pot you cook the tomatoes in. Finish with some peanuts. In the end, it wasn’t exactly like the South Indian style of rice that I love, but it was still so comforting and flavorful.
Tomato Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice, cooked and cooled
- ⅓ cup peanuts
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or another neutral oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- pinch of hing (asafetida)
- 1.5 tbsp chana dal *sub toor dal or urad dal
- ½ a red onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 3 medium tomatoes, pureed into a paste
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼-½ tsp garam masala *depends on strength of your masala. use more if store-bought.
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp kashmiri chili powder *optional for color
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Toast peanuts on a pan with a little oil until crisp and golden. Set them aside.
- Add avocado oil or another neutral oil to a medium pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds. When they start to crackle, add a pinch of hing. Let it bloom for 30 seconds.
- Add chana dal and fry until golden-brown, so about 2-3 minutes.
- Add onion. Cook for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and ginger. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the raw smell fades.
- Add the diced tomato, tomato paste, and salt to taste to help the tomato juices evaporate. Cook until the tomato juices substantially reduce.
- Add all the ground spices and gently stir into the tomatoes. Add the cooled rice and stir for a few minutes. Taste and adjust for salt. Finish with peanuts and cilantro!
For more Indian rice dishes, check out…
