Tangy Tomato Time!

While some of us are still recovering from yesterday's blog post (Mango Mania), I know I still am (drool drool!!), here is another recipe that has been my childhood favorite and continues to be loved by each and everyone who has tasted it!  This recipe is one of my mother's original and sort of a legacy she passed down to me through her hand-written recipe book (awwww!) It is finger licking good, and I’m sure all of you would cherish it as much as me and the rest of my friends and family do ~Tomato Rice~

This is a simple, no frills or fancies, easy to make recipe.  Yes, it does require ample patience and a little bit of cleaning your kitchen after your done, coz it tends to splash and splutter quite a bit, so watch out and keep your flame on low! But while you are at it, I would suggest, double the recipe and make a big batch, coz you won't regret it ;)!!! 

Mama’s Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

For Tomato Chutney/Pickle:

1 kg ripe tomatoes

 1 cup green peas (optional)

A few curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp hing (asafoetida)

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)

2 ½ tsp salt (adjust to taste)

1 tsp sugar

4 Tbsp oil

For Rice:

1 cup Basmati or any other long grain white rice, cooked al dente

Cilantro to garnish

Method:

1)      Puree 1 kg tomatoes and keep aside.

2)      Heat oil in a wok or large pan, when hot, add mustard seeds and let them pop.

3)      Add hing and curry leaves followed by tomato puree.

4)      Add peas (optional), turmeric, chili powder, salt and sugar and stir well.

5)      Let it cook on a low flame for 30 minutes, till all the water has evaporated and the tomato puree now looks like a thick tomato paste. (Note: you will see the oil very well separated)

6)      Reserve half of this tomato chutney for a future date to be relished with Roti, Bread, Dosas or even on crackers (yummm!)

7)      For tomato rice, mix the other half of chutney with cooked rice (when rice is cool) making sue the rice does not break in this process.  Re-heat and serve with Papadoms and Raita!

...and I can't wait to dig into the rest of it...my most favorite being Tomato Roti rolls (ahhh heaven!!)

Happy Cooking :)