Tomato Rice - Thakkali Sadam - How to make Tomato Rice
A classic south indian variety rice made with tomatoes and spices.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Total Time30 minutesmins
Course: lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: Indian, south indian, tamil nadu
Keyword: thakkali, tomato, variety rice
Servings: 3
Author: Mullai Madavan
Equipment
Wok / Kadai / Fry Pan
Ingredients
To cook rice
1cupRiceBasmati / Seera Sambar / Pachai arisi
2cupsWater
To temper
3tablespoonOil
1/2teaspoonMustard seeds
1teaspoonBengal gram / Kadala paruppu
1/2teaspoonSplit Black gram / ullundu
1/2teaspoonFennel seeds / Sombu
1/2teaspoonCumin seeds
5leavesCurry leaves
To saute
1cupOnionthinly sliced
4largeTomato roughly 2 cups
1teaspoonGinger Garlic paste
1/4teaspoonTurmeric powder
1teaspoonRed Chili powderspicy variety
2teaspoonSalt
1/2teaspoonGaram Masala powderoptional, read notes***
1/4teaspoonJaggeryoptional, read notes***
Instructions
To cook rice
Wash and rinse raw rice and soak for 10 minutes.
Take rice and water in a pressure cooker and cook over high flame for up to 2 whistles and switch off.
Once the pressure settles, spread over a plate and let it cool down a bit.
You may use any leftover cooked rice for this recipe instead of cooking a fresh batch. Always warm up the cooked rice before mixing with the base. Once cup of raw rice roughly yields about 3 cups of cooked rice.
You may use any kind of rice for this recipe. Raw rice (ponni / sona masoori / basmati / samba ) works for this recipe.
To make the base gravy
Heat oil in a pan and temper with mustards seeds.
Add bengal gram and split black gram to it and fry till it turns golden. Make sure to fry these dal until golden before adding the next ingredient,
Add fennel seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves to it and fry for few seconds.
Saute thinly sliced onions for 3 to 4 minutes over medium flame.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry along until the raw smell goes.
Add chopped tomatoes and saute for few minutes.
Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Saute for for minutes.
Cover and cook for 5 -6 minutes over low flame to cook the tomatoes.
When done, add garam masala powder and mix. This step is optional, temper a small piece of cinnamon if you skip garam masala powder.
When done, add cooked rice along with jaggery and mix well.
Again cover and cook for 5 minutes over low flame.
Garnish with chopped curry leaves and switch off!
Serve it with raita, papad and choice of veg curry!
Notes
* Garam Masala Powder - adding garam masala powder is optional. If you plan to skip , then temper a small piece of cinnamon along with fennel seeds for flavor. *Jaggery - adding jaggery is optional, used to balance the tanginess of tomatoes and heat. You may replace it with a pinch of sugar.* Ginger Garlic paste can be replace with crushed ginger and garlic for more flavor.
* Tamil Style Thakkali Sadam mostly does not include ginger, you may try using just crushed garlic or with combination of tiny whole garlic for variation.