I hate tomatoes. Probably not the best way to start my post, but I really don’t like tomatoes. My sister, on the other hand, loves them. Today she asked me if I know how to make Tomato Bath. The Tomato Bath that I know is made with Bombay Rava (Semolina), but she wanted the rice version that is available in Hyderabad restaurants, especially in Swati or Kamat. I don’t remember eating it (because of my dislike to tomatoes), but I thought eh, why not. This recipe isn’t the exact version as the one available in the restaurants as I made this up on the spot. I made a lot today to last us for another meal too, so you would want to adjust accordingly.

I’m a really messy cook, so you should excuse my really messy pictures. Also, I’m not a great photographer, just a novice. I have been experimenting different ways of taking pictures and just go with it. My son has been my muse lately and he gives me a real hard time because he doesn’t stay in one place. I’m relying heavily on iPhoto which has an editor, for now, it’s doing a great job, but I have to sharpen my skills pretty soon.

Usually, the tomato rice that I make has an equal ratio of onions and tomatoes, but this recipe that I made today uses really less of onions and a lot, LOT of tomatoes. I used Roma tomatoes for this recipe, but you can use any tomatoes except probably cherry. I tried to make this recipe without much spices and those that we can find easily. I did not want to make a recipe that had too many ingredients. This recipe looks lengthy, but I’ve just included a lot of pictures. The ingredients are those that you find around the house. Also, fair warning, this recipe is really unhealthy. To attain the taste of that of a restaurant, a lot of oil has been involved. So here’s how I made it.

Ingredients

Onions – 1 medium

Tomatoes – 10 medium sized

Green chillies – 4-5 (depending on how spicy you like it)

Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tablespoons

Turmeric – ¼ teaspoon

Coriander Powder – 1 teaspoon

Cumin Powder – 1 teaspoon

Kitchen King Masala – ½ teaspoon (optional)

Kashmiri Chilli Powder – 1 teaspoon

Basmati Rice – 3 cups

Water – 2 and ½ cups

Oil – 3 tablespoons

Asafoetida – ¼ teaspoon

Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon

 

How to Make

Step 1: Chop onions as thin as you can and slit the green chillies length wise. Chop the ginger and garlic into smaller pieces so that you can grind it into a paste. If you do not have fresh ginger or garlic you can always use the ready made pastes available at the stores.

Step 2: Take 7 tomatoes (from the 10) and grind them into a paste. The tomatoes can be left chunky as they will cook down later. Chop the remaining tomatoes into bite sized pieces.

Step 3: Heat a huge skillet. I used a non-stick that I have, but you can use a steel one too. The only problem with a steel one is that the rice might burn and stick to the bottom later. Once it’s hot enough add oil. To the heated oil add the asafoetida and the cumin seeds.

Step 4: Add the ginger garlic paste to the oil once the cumin seeds start to crackle. The ginger and garlic need to lose their raw smell, fry them until you feel the smell has gone and then add in turmeric, green chillies, onions, and salt.

Step 5: You can fry the onions till they become brownish or when the onions turn translucent add in the coriander powder, cumin powder, kitchen king masala and Kashmiri chilli powder. Give it a good toss and then add in the chunky tomato paste.

Step 6: When the oil starts to ooze out of the tomatoes, add in the bite sized pieces of the tomatoes and stir it up a bit. You can see in the picture how the oil has come out at the edges. Leave it in about 10-15 minutes for the tomatoes to cook in the tomato paste. and you will notice the oil come out again as in the picture below.

Step 7: Now add the 2 and a half cups of water. Add in a bit more of salt as you won’t be able to add in once the rice has finished cooking. Once the water starts boiling, add in the 3 cups of rice. Cover it with a lid and leave it on medium heat for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, turn off the stove and DO NOT remove the lid for another 10. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and give the rice a quick stir. You can either serve it with onions and lemon or with raita.

 

Tips:

1. You can completely skip the green chillies if you aren’t a fan of the spice.
2. You can add 3 bay leaves, an inch of cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 3 black peppercorns and a star anise in the oil with the jeera instead of adding in the kitchen king masala.
3. You can use the same recipe with 6 tomatoes (4 grind and 2 chopped) and 1 and a half cup of rice (water only 1 cup).
4. Any kind of rice can be used (sona masoori or basmati).
5. You can skip the asafoetida if you do not have any.

 

Po