Tomato Rice

Here is a recipe that uses a generous amount of tomatoes in a mildly spiced Indian tomato rice dish.

The inspiration

At this time of year I get loads and loads of tomatoes from my neighbor. So many that to prevent them from spoiling I chop them up and freeze them to use throughout the year.

I’ve made so many tomato based recipes that taste fabulous just from that one wonderful ingredient – garden fresh tomatoes. Having exhausted a lot of tomato recipes I ventured to try something new with my current batch of tomatoes – an Indian style tomato rice.

Quick and easy in the Instapot

I used my amazing instapot to make this rice dish, the beauty is that its a one pot meal. Everything can be made in this magic appliance. Just saute the onions and garlic, add in a few spices, then fresh tomatoes and rice. Turn the pot onto the rice setting and sit back and relax. How easy is that? You’ll get a delicious tomato rice in just 15 minutes. Serve it along with plain yogurt for a fabulous meal.

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice washed and rinsed
4 cups fresh tomatoes chopped up
4 garlic cloves diced
1 onion cut into small pieces
1 inch piece of ginger finely grated
Fresh Cilantro about 4 tbsp
Curry leaves 6 leaves (optional)
Oil
Salt
1 tsp sugar
Spices:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder
1 tsp asafetida powder
1 tsp turmeric
Chili powder as much as your want

Directions:

Turn the instapot setting to saute function. When the display reads hot, add 2 tbsp oil. Wait for it warm up. then add the mustard seeds. Toast the seeds for about 1 minute then add the cumin seeds and brown for a few seconds. Add all the spices and immediately add the curry leaves, garlic, ginger and onions. Fry the the onions until tender.

Next add the tomatoes and 1 tsp salt. Cook the tomatoes for 3-5 minutes. You will notice they release a lot of water.

Cook’s Notes: Enough water gets released from the tomatoes in fact that you may not need to add water to cook the rice. Eyeball it, if its about 2 cups tomato water then you don’t need to add more water. If it looks less than that add 1/2 cup to 1 cup water. Add the basmati rice and stir with fresh cilantro, sugar and 1/2 tsp more salt. Switch the setting on the instapot to the rice setting.

After 12-15 minutes the rice will be ready. Wait for the instapot to release the pressure and the it switches to low, then open the pot and fluff with a fork. Taste and adjust for salt.