Tomato Bath/Tomato Biryani

Tomatoes bath is a spicy and aromatic rice variety.  As I was perusing through my recipe list I was surprised to see that tomato rice did not make it through the list coz I frequently make them in different ways and not even one has ended up in here.
Then I slowly realized that being a blogger has changed my thought process and I moved on to try famous and make once-in-a-while recipes that I totally forgot about the keeper. Of course I decided to make it the very next day as it doesn’t require any special ingredients. But I had a great confusion in deciding which recipe to showcase first and finally I zeroed in on Amma’s recipe as they are my most favorite and tastes more or less like biryani.   I didn’t change the recipe except for Amma grinds dried red chillies with coconut while I added red chili powder for better color. Though it may take 10 minutes more than your regular tomato rice it sure is worth every bit.

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice-2 cups

Tomatoes-5, finely chopped

Onions-3, sliced

Mint leaves-1/2 cup

Green chilies-2, slit

Ginger-garlic paste-1 & ½ tsp

Red chili powder-1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

Salt-as needed

Coriander leaves- to garnish

To Grind:

Coconut-1/2 cup, grated

Cinnamon-1 inch stick

Clove-2

Cardamom-1

Add all ingredients to a blender jar with little water and grind to a smooth paste.

To Temper:

Bay leaf-1

Fennel seeds-1/2 tsp

Stone flower/Kal Paasi-1 tsp

Oil-1 tsp

Ghee-1 tsp

How It Happened:

1. Heat oil and ghee in a pan, add the ingredients given under the ‘to temper’ list. When they pop, add onions and mint leaves.

2. When onions turn translucent add ginger & garlic paste and cook until the raw smell wades off.

3. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until they turn mushy and get dissolved. Then cook in simmer they ooze out the oil.

4. Add red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt and cook for a minute or two.

5. Add the ground coconut paste and ½ cup of water. Let it cook in simmer until it starts bubbling. Keep stirring now and then else they will stick to the bottom of the pan.

6. When ¾ th of the water has dried add the rice and mix well. Take care not to break the rice grains.

7. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

8. Serve hot with raita and papad.

Notes:

* You can also puree tomatoes and use them.

* I used basmati rice/long grain but regular short grain/ponni will work fine.

* Instead of using red chili powder you can add dried red chilies while grinding coconut.

* You can also add green chilies instead of red chilies but I used chili flavor to enhance the color.