My Cook Book

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Serving Size: 4

ingredients

    5-6 tomatoes
    1 large capsicum or 2 small capsicum
    1 large onion or 2 small onions
    1 inch ginger
    6-7 garlic flakes
    1/4 or 1/2 cup fresh coconut or dry coconut
    1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera powder
    1 tsp cumin seeds
    3 cloves
    1 inch cinnamon
    3 tbsp oil
    2 cups rice
    salt
    water
    coriander leaves and fresh coconut for garnishing

method:

1.     slice the onions and capsicum.
2.     make a smooth and fine paste of the tomatoes, ginger, garlic, coconut, green chillies, cinnamon, cloves, jeera powder.
3.     clean and wash the rice. you can also soak the rice for 20-25 minutes.
4.     in a pan heat oil or ghee.
5.     fry the cumin seeds, bay leaves.
6.     add the sliced onions and brown them.
7.     now add the sliced capsicum and saute for 2-3 minutes.
8.     measure the masala paste in a measuring cup and add it.
9.     for 2 cups of rice you will need 4 cups of the paste.
10.     if the paste yield is less then add water.
11.     add salt and cover and cook the rice till its done.
12.     garnish with fresh grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves
13.     serve hot. 

i wonder why its called tomato rice and not tomato capsicum rice. in the sheets that were handed out to us it was called tomato rice. since it uses less numbers of capsicum than tomatoes, at least logically for me i also decide to call it tomato rice.

lets begin the step by step recipe of tomato rice

you will need fresh juicy red tomatoes. of course i know you know that, but i have to write something…
chop the tomatoes and green chillies and add them in the food processor or wet grinding jar.
add cloves and cinnamon
put ginger garlic in these
add coconut (fresh or dessicated)
finally add the cumin seeds/jeera powder
and grind everything to a smooth fine paste
in a pan heat ghee or oil. add cumin seeds and let them splutter
add sliced onions
i forgot to add bay leaves with the cumin seeds hence i have added them later when the onions were half cooked.
brown the onions
and then add sliced capsicum
mix the capsicum with the browned onions and saute for 2-3 minutes
now measure the tomato masala paste in a measuring cup
since we will be using 2 cups rice we we will need 4 or 4½  cups of the paste. i got 3¼ cups of the tomato masala paste. add the tomato coconut paste to the onions and capsicum mixture
add cleaned and washed rice
i also added 1/4 cup of water. remember to add salt.
give the whole mixture a nice stir. cover and let the rice cook till its done
serve the tomato rice hot hot…
this recipe is a yummy one… you will soon see the rice disappear slowly slowly
and soon disappear more and more as soon as it is served.

tips:

    if you want a more mushy rice add more water. thats what i did. i added 2 cups water later to get a mushy and soft texture.
    use the same measuring cup that you have used to measure the rice.
    you can also pressure cook the rice.
    when the rice is cooking keep an eye on it by checking it with a fork so as to ensure that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan. add more water if the water dries up and the rice mixture looks dry.
    to add more spice increase the quantity of green chillies.