Delicious, spicy, and tangy, Tomato Rice can be enjoyed on its own or accompanied by some raita. A delectable dish to add to any party menu, this Tomato Bath recipe is easy and straightforward.
Jump to:
To make this Tomato Pulao, the main ingredients, tomatoes and rice, are flavoured with some spices to give you a mouth-watering rice dish that's not just ideal for your dinner but also for your lunch box.
Quick, easy to follow video with step-by-step instructions of How to make Tamatar Rice:
Get it right from the start – rinse thrice, soak and parboil
If you want perfect texture for Tomato Fried Rice, how you prepare and cook rice is important. Rinse rice thoroughly at least thrice to remove excess starch. This will prevent rice grains from sticking to each other and making it lumpy.
Next soak the rice in enough water for 20 mins and then drain this water out. This process will allow rice kernels to slowly soak up some water which will reach to its core.
Finally cook rice till its 75% done in hot salted water. Then drain and spread it on a plate to cool down. Rice should be cooked till al dente, tender but still a bit firm. It should be soft enough to break but still hold its shape.
Above three processes will make sure that your Tomato Biryani is nice and fluffy with each rice grain separate and not soggy, lumpy and unpleasant to eat.
Only Non-stick or Heavy Bottom Cookware
When preparing this Tomatoes and Rice recipe, make sure to use a non-stick pan as cooked rice does have a tendency to stick to cookware. If you don’t own or don’t prefer non-stick cookware, use a heavy bottom cookware to avoid sticking and burning the rice.
Also, use a wide cookware like a frying pan in which it will be easy to stir and mix all the ingredients together.
Adding flavour and texture
All the spices and herbs mentioned in this easy tomato rice recipe like green cardamom seeds, bay leaves, ginger, cilantro (coriander), etc. make this rice with tomato sauce really flavourful.
Split chickpeas (chana dal), white lentils (urad dal), cashew nuts add a lovely crunch and provide a distinct texture to this Indian Tomato rice.
But there are few things to keep in mind when making this Tomato Pulao recipe. Do not use too much garam masala and onions as they will spoil the taste and texture of rice. Also, make sure onions are cooked really well and become soft and shiny before adding tomatoes.
Same goes with mint (pudina). As it has a very strong flavour make sure to use it sparingly or else it will overpower the flavour of tomatoes. Although adding it in small quantity will definitely make rice and tomatoes more flavourful, but you can skip it if you don’t have or like it.
Tomatoes are the star of the dish
As Tomatoes are the main ingredient of this dish, you need to use lots of really good quality tomatoes to give it unique flavour. To avoid the chore of chopping lots of tomatoes,
I like to use canned tomatoes for this Tomato Rice recipe. Plus, canned tomatoes give a vibrant red colour to the dish, they get cooked quickly and are tangier, so I prefer canned tomatoes here.
But you can surely use fresh tomatoes that have a really nice red colour and are slightly on tangy side like vine tomatoes. Make sure to use lots of them to add a punch of flavour.
After you add tomatoes to the pan, cook them well till they turn very soft and mushy. Then add remaining spices mentioned in the Tomato Bhaat recipe and cooled rice. Mix rice with tomatoes really well, finish off with chopped cilantro and mint leaves and serve immediately.
This Tomato Bath taste so delicious and is so filling that it is a meal in itself, you won’t need anything else with it!
Here are other OvalShelf’s Veg and Non-Veg recipes. Some Veg recipes that you will really love are Tawa Paneer, Pan Roasted Peppers (Capsicum) and Mumbai Pav Bhaji.
Check out OvalShelf’s collection of International recipes.
Some trending OvalShelf recipes:
Recipe Card
Latest OvalShelf recipes:
♥ We LOVE hearing from you ♥
If you have tried this recipe, please do share your food photo with us. Mention @ovalshelf or use hashtag #ovalshelf on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Thank you.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Click here to Subscribe to OvalShelf's YouTube Channel to get all our quick, precise and simple video recipes. YouTube subscription is FREE.