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August 1, 2007

Tomato Pulao

Rice! I doubt anyone could have been happier with the selection of this ingredient for the Jihva for ingredients started by Indira of Mahanandi and hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam.


I've not been much of a rice fan. I like variety and love rice only when it takes turns with noodles, pasta, soup, rotis etc arriving on my plate. Give me loads of any one thing only if you want to see/hear me crib for a long time to come.





But then, you can crib and cry all you want when someone else is cooking for you. I'd much rather eat rice than slave over the stove making rotis when I'm the one that has to do the cooking. At times like those, which has been everyday since I left home ten years ago, I can't agree more with Anita of A Mad Tea Party when she says, "Roti is such a job, I tell you. Eat rice instead and you have 12-15 minutes to watch TV, enjoy a drink. Or that cup of tea that you forgot all about!"


So, rice is my saviour. Saves me from toiling over the stove. Saves me the trouble of making 3 dishes. And it is so truly versatile. Whether you're eating it with sambar, rasam, curds, dal or egg curry, as biryani, risotto, paella, puliyodarai... or whether you're just mixing it with paruppu podi or any of the numerous podis your mom packed for you, or if you're enjoying it in its various forms such as idli, dosa, rice upma there is no escaping the impact that rice has on our lives. Anna, though is meant to mean food and hence the phrase "Annadata sukhi bhava", has come to mean rice.


This is something I made last week to clear my fridge of vegetables before we left for Manali. My cousin, Neelu, taught me this recipe when I was still in school and this comes in handy all the time.

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati Rice
1 cup Mixed vegetables (I used cauliflower, beans, carrots, broccoli)
2 Onions, sliced
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Cardamom
2 Cloves
2" stick Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp Green chilli paste
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a pressure pan and fry the onions. When they turn translucent, add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Fry for a minute before adding the ginger-garlic and chilli pastes. Fry this for about half a minute and add the chopped tomato, turmeric and chilli powder. Fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the tomato puree, rice, vegetables and saute for a minute and then add salt. Add 1 3/4 cups of hot water and cook for 1-2 whistles.



Enjoy this with some curd or raita. The nicest part about this pulao is that the tomato base ensures you don't need a side dish to go with it. And it tastes good even when cold.

This is my first official entry to the JFI: Rice hosted by Sharmi. My other celebrations of rice have been:

Rice Dishes:

Items using rice in some form:

I look forward to posting many more recipes in the coming weeks.

22 comments:

Poonam said...

Thats a nice little recipe!

Sharmi said...

simple and great looking dish. must be tasting great. thanks for the entry.

Bharathy said...

...so all of you girls are busy lining up the JFI entries soooo well ahead?A month ahead...!!!
Love thakkali sadam.. anytime..:)

Raaga said...

@Poonam: Thanks. Do try it out.

@Sharmi: I am so thrilled to be the first. Last time for your AFAM, I think I was the last.

@Bharathy: With rice as the ingredient, can I be far behind?
Welcome!

FH said...

That is a great looking dish,first for JFI Rice!! YUM.You have made every kinda rice dish out there,what's left for me?! :D

Raaga said...

@Asha: Even if I finish all the dishes, you'll come up with a new one. It's no wonder you're an Inspirational Blogger!

Sia said...

LOL @ I'd much rather eat rice than slave over the stove making rotis when I'm the one that has to do the cooking.
he he he... ditto here. now i cook rice items for everyday lunch box. howz that?
love tomato bhath. u have got a beautiful coloured tomato rice there. i am thrilled that thismonth's JFI is for rice. cant wait to send my entry:)

Raaga said...

Yeah yeah Sia. Totally agree. Rice is what it is most days for us too... at times like these, I tell people, "Oh we Saraswats and Tamilians are predominantly rice eaters"

Laavanya said...

Love the colour of that tomato pulao.
I like a variety too but you are right about rice being very convenient. While I was pregnant, I skipped making chapathis totally since it seemed like such a tiresome thing so it was rice everyday then.

archana said...

I love rice too, very convenient to make. I liked the colour of the pulao . Nice recipe Raaga :)

ushaprashanth said...

Hi raaga!
tomato pulao looks delicious!! nice pic!

Vanamala Hebbar said...

hmm looks delicious!!

Padma said...

Great entry...and looks colorful and delicious...

Poonam said...

Hey Raaga, Just read your comment on my MeMe. You didn't offend me in any way!Read the first para of the Meme and you will know how the comment got deleted!http://poonamphatak.blogspot.com/2007/07/tagged.html

Sorry about that!!

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Love this recipe. Gotta try it out! I'm a south indian, can't live without rice! especially curd rice!

Kanch

Suganya said...

Roti is not an everyday fare at my home. Thachu mammam is a must ;)

Coffee said...

Nice one Raaga! :) You are already on with the next months theme!! :)

Raaga said...

@Laavanya: Thanks. Making rotis is always tiresome I think. What I like bst about rotis is the eating bit!!

@Archana: Nice, tasty and easy... what more do we need? :-)

Raaga said...

@Usha, Vanamala, Padma: Thank you :-)

@Poonam: OK, I get it :-)

Raaga said...

@Kanch and Suganya: Thachi mammu... I even blogged about it :-) Who can live without it :-)

Raaga said...

@Coffee: On time (though not everytime) MBP's on a break??

Anonymous said...

luv hte color of hte rice
wish i can see more of it
luv ur rice dishes ;)