Tomato Rice with Coconut Milk
Tomato rice was a big part of my childhood. It was something my mother would make for road trips or picnics or long train journeys. Every year we would go from Bombay to Madras to spend the summers with my maternal grandparents. The twenty-four-hour overnight train journey was an adventure for my sister and me, not sure how my mother survived it with two young kids. She would individually pack tiffin, it was usually, idli coated in podi and or tomato rice wrapped in a banana leaf, and then wrapped again in a newspaper. There was also pickle or thokku for good measure.
As a child I craved all the wonderful things sold at various railway stations the train traversed through, they looked and smelt amazing. My mother simply refused to buy it. She was always unsure of its hygiene standards. So there it was, staring at us was the tomato rice.
Now as an adult I appreciate all the little things about this meal and also the ingenuity of my mother. The banana leaf wrapping is biodegradable and tomato rice is always easy to whip up and comes together in one-pot.q
More recently, when I took a trip with my in-laws, they brought packed lunches for our long car drive. When I unwrapped the banana leaf, there it was the infamous tomato rice. It was no secret most Tamil families did it, we packed tomato rice for our travels. It is easy, satiating, and delicious.
Tomato Rice with Coconut Milk
This fragrant tomato rice is cooked in creamy coconut milk with curry leaves, spices, and cashews. It’s a hearty one-pot meal you can make on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot - perfect for weeknights and delicious with a simple raita.
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups (350 g) basmati rice, washed and soaked
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or sunflower oil
- 10-12 fresh curry leaves
- A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
- 2-3 cloves
- ½-inch piece of cinnamon
- 1 thumb-sized knob of ginger, grated
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-3 green chillies, slit
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri lal mirch
- ⅓ cup (50 g) unsalted cashews
- 4 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 × 400 ml can coconut milk
- ¾ cup (175 ml) water
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté (Normal) and warm the oil. Add curry leaves, hing, cloves, and cinnamon; sauté for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the sliced onions and cook 4-5 minutes, until golden.
- Add garlic, ginger, green chillies, and cashews. Cook 2 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, turmeric, and Kashmiri lal mirch. Cook 7-8 minutes, until the tomatoes break down and become thick and glossy.
- Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pot. Stir to combine. Pour in coconut milk, water, and salt.
- Cancel Sauté. Secure the lid and set the valve to Sealing.
- Pressure cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Let the pressure naturally release for 4 minutes, then carefully quick release.
- Fluff gently with a fork and serve warm.
- Use a wide saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.
- Follow steps 1-5 as written above.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover with the lid. Reduce to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Do not lift the lid during cooking - the steam is essential for fluffy rice.
- Take the pot off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.
