Tomato rice is a one-pot dish made of tomatoes, onion, rice along with a special spice blend.
This vegan, gluten-free dish can be made quickly to serve or pack for lunch or dinner.
Rice varieties are always the most preferred/convenient dishes for lunch box. Especially, a one-pot meal.
A quick mix of few ingredients and pressure cooking them is all that you need for a flavourful, yet easy-peasy dish. Don’t you think they make life so easy on busy mornings?
No matter how many recipes of rice varieties we have, there is always a need to add one more to the bunch, for it is almost an everyday affair in many families, especially for us South Indians.
Here is one such easy and delicious rice variety that you can add to your list of lunch box ideas.
Tomato Baath (Baath is the term used in Kannada typically for rice varieties, or also for similar dishes using flattened rice or millets or even rava in some cases) or tomato rice is a very commonly known dish.
But what makes this recipe special is the masala powder used in this, which gives a very unique and delicious taste.
This is a recipe I learned from my friend’s mother.
The dominant flavour of coriander seeds/dhania is what gives this a special flavour. So, I am always thankful to Mrs. Geetha Rajan, for introducing this version to me.
So, coming back to this recipe, all you need is a handful of readily available whole spices, tomatoes, onion, sona masuri rice and water.
With the masala powder in hand, it hardly takes around 15-20 minutes to put everything together and have a bowl of fresh, mouth-watering tomato baath / tomato rice with chilled tomato-onion raitha that goes perfect with the rice.
I would say, do try this recipe and I’m sure you will start including this version of tomato rice often in your kitchen.
Let’s get started with this, shall we?
Tomato Rice| Tomato Bath Recipe
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Small Frying Pan
Ingredients
Measurement: 1 cup = 250ml
To Make Masala Powder
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds - (dhania seeds)
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 number cloves
- 2 numbers large garlic cloves - , or 4 small garlic cloves
- 1 inch fresh ginger
- 6 numbers byadagi or kashmiri red chillies - , add more or less as per how hot you want your rice
To Pressure Cook
- 2 teaspoons oil - , I used cold pressed sunflower oil
- 1/2 cup sona masuri rice - , washed
- 4 small size tomatoes (sweet variety) - , finely chopped
- 1 medium size red onion - , thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt - , or as per taste
- 1 tablespoon coriander - , freshly chopped
Instructions
Making the Masala Powder
- Dry roast all the whole spices given under 'For Masala Powder', just until they release the flavors. Keep the flame in low and make sure you do not burn the spices.
- Once the spices are roasted and cooled, transfer them to a mixer jar and grind to a coarse powder.
Making the Tomato Rice
- To a pressure cooker, add oil. Once the oil heats up, add cumin seeds and let them splutter.
- Now add thinly sliced onion, turmeric powder and saute until onions turn translucent.
- Next, add the chopped tomatoes and saute until they turn soft but not mushy.
- Once this is done, add the freshly prepared masala powder and give a good mix. I would suggest you to not add the complete batch of the powder prepared at once, wait until you add water to check the taste.
- Now add the washed rice and mix well. Add water, salt, and chopped coriander leaves.
- Check for the salt and spice level. If you think you can handle more spice, add the remaining powder and salt if required.
- Bring this mixture to a boil, close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook up to 2 whistles. Let the pressure release on its own.
- Garnish with more coriander leaves, if you wish to and serve with chilled onion-tomato raitha.
Notes
- You can skip onion and garlic if you do not eat them. But the taste will definitely be different.
- Coriander seeds/ dhania is what gives this dish a unique flavor. Hence, do not skip or reduce the quantity.
- You may also add a few drops of lemon juice before cooking if you find your tomatoes not to be sour enough.
- Increase or decrease the quantity of dry red chilies as per your taste. Make sure to use a variety that has less heat and more color, as this gives a nice bright color to the tomato rice.
I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed preparing it and writing it down for you all. I would love to hear your feedbacks on this. When you try it, kindly post your valuable comments below or share it with me personally on Instagram / Facebook, or post it with due credits. You may also pin it on Pinterest.
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