“I like rice. Rice is great if you’re hungry and you want 2000 of something.”
—-Mitch Hedberg (Comedian)
Yes. Sometimes I DO want 2000 of something. Often, in fact.
Fill my plate with rice in any of its iterations—rice pudding, rice soups, risotto, pilafs, and on and on. Don’t even get me started on how much I love a good Indian biryani or a crispy-bottomed Persian tahdig.
So it was that a recent lunch and a movie outing with my good friends and fellow foodies Carole, Maria and Joyce rekindled my love affair with Indian rice. We feasted on a buffet of Indian street foods–pooris, idlis, pakoras– followed by a fragrant plate of saffron-hued basmati rice and other delights. The soft spongy steamed rice idlis–often served as a breakfast food in India– were served with a spicy sambar (lentil) soup. The plate of basmati rice was prepared simply and presented elegantly. The meal left me thinking that I need to put more Indian foods, particularly rice-based ones, on my table and feature more Indian recipes in this blog.
Let’s start with a great Indian Tomato Rice recipe. Indian Tomato Rice would be great served with other Indian dishes for the home cook that have been featured on Blue Cayenne over the years including Poha (click here), Spiced Indian Corn (click here), Mango Lassi Frozen Yogurt (click here), Masala Tea (click here), and Cauliflower and Potato Curry (click here)
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 to 3 C. leftover cooked basmati rice
- 1/4 C. canola oil
- 1 t. black mustard seeds
- 1/4 t. ground turmeric
- 6 fresh or frozen curry leaves (optional/available in Indian markets or grow your own)
- 1/4 to 1/2 t. red pepper flakes (to your taste and heat tolerance)
- 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 1 small yellow onion (minced)
- 3 plum tomatoes (cored and roughly chopped)
- 1/4 t. asafoetida (optional--it is an aquired taste/available in Indian markets)
- Kosher salt (to taste)
- 1/4 C. chopped cilantro
- Sliced tomatoes to garnish
- Chopped red chiles to garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add black mustard seeds, turmeric, curry leaves and chile flakes and cook until seeds pop. (Be careful here. Tiny bursting mustard seeds can burn.) This will take 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic slices, onion and chopped tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes become soft and release their juices. This will take 6 to 8 minutes. Add asafoetida (if using) and salt. Stir rice into the spice/tomato mixture and continue to saute until the flavors permeate the rice.
- Serve rice garnished with chopped cilantro and chopped red chiles (optional). Enjoy. This is a wonderful rice dish.
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This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in 2014 in Saveur Magazine. You can find the original recipe here.
