Tomato Rice

I woke up today craving for my mother’s cooking. The dish that I look forward the most when I go back to my hometown is my mom’s tomato rice accompanied with her famous vegetarian sambal. Back in my own kitchen, I found a bag of luscious tomatoes waiting to be used and the menu for the day was laid out: tomato rice accompanied with tempe-anchovy-potato-sambal and stir-fried broccoli with garlic. That set my mood for the rest of the day 🙂 As the tomato rice was sitting in the cooker, a wonderful aroma filled every nook and corner of the house – the aroma that brought me back to my mother’s cooking. Comforting.

The tomato rice turned out fantastic. It can be a meal by itself.  I found some recipes online and tweaked it to our taste and I must say my husband was impressed 😉 Herewith is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 3 ripe tomatoes, diced
• Salt to taste
• Oil
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1-inch stick cinnamon
• 3 cloves
• 3 cardamom
• 1 star anise
• Cashew nuts, a handful
• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups water
• 3 screwpine leaves (wash and tear down its length and tie in a knot)

Steps:

1. Heat oil in a wok and saute onion,  and ginger-garlic paste till fragrant.
2. Add diced tomatoes and season with salt. Cook till the tomatoes are soft. Then, blend coarsely. Set aside.
3. Heat ghee in a wok and fry mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and star anise till fragrant.
4. Add cashew nuts and fry till golden brown.
5. Next, add the washed rice and fry for a few minutes.
6. Add the blended ingredients and stir until everything is well combined.
7. Transfer to rice cooker and add 3 cups of water and the screwpine leaves.
8. Stir often to make sure everything is well blended.