Tomato Rice / Thakkali sadham | Indian Rice Recipes

Everyone would have their own version of tomato rice. This is my version which has a ground paste to be added instead of the regular addition of spice powders. I was going over my posts and realised that I had not posted any rice recipes yet. And so here it comes, my first rice recipe on my blog.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Tomato - 3 big and ripe
Onion - 2 cups thinly sliced
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - a small stick
Bay leaf - 1
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Plain Yoghurt/Curd - 1 tbsp (optional - can use if you feel the tomatoes are not tart enough)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 3 tsp

Make a Paste:
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - a small stick
Green chillies - 4
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - a 1/2" piece
Saunf/Fennel seeds - 3/4 tsp

Method:
Make a fine paste of the ingredients under 'Make a Paste' adding less than 1/4 cup water in a mixie/blender.
Pressure cooker method:
Heat 3 tsp of oil in the pressure cooker and add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf and saute for 1 min. Now add sliced onions and saute until golden brown. Add the ground paste and saute until the raw smell disappears. Now add the tomato and mix until the tomatoes become soft and mushy about 6-8 mins.
Add the curd, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Check for seasoning and add the rice and 2-3/4 cups of water, mix and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
Alternate method:
Cook the rice as you would for normal pulao and let it cool. The rice should be fluffy. Make the tomato gravy as per the above steps in a wide kadai and add the cooked rice at the end and mix with a fork. Take care that you don't over mix it. The gravy should be coated well all over the rice.
Enjoy hot with any raita of your choice.

This is one of my comfort foods since it is an one-pot meal and easy to cook. It had always helped to minimize my cooking time on a Sunday afternoon or a not-having-a-mood-to-cook gloomy days when I just want to cuddle up with a blanket. 

I am sending this to 'Winter Warmers' event by the 'Veggie-hut'.

I am also sending this to 'Comfort food Event - Winter' by Tamanna of The Dazzling Kitchen.