Grape tomatoes for GBP-Summer
Malai tomato rice





A rice dish is perhaps not the best way to show off a grape tomato harvest. I somehow blindly believe that these tiny tomatoes belong in salads, savory pies and tarts or in recipes preserving its shape or color. Yet I made a rice dish with our GBP summer harvest, reason one being the truth that we postponed picking these tomatoes long enough to make it overripe. By the time we finished reveling on the red goodness; many tomatoes lost the crunch, so the decision to make a flavored rice was a natural choice. Malai grape tomato rice is a spin off from Sudha’s real comfort tomato baath recipe. My version has subdued spices, and added fresh cream to go along with the mild flavor of grape tomatoes reaped right from our deck. The tomatoes sure vanish without a trace into the rice, but the subtle and sweet flavor lingers.

Basmati rice -2 cups
Ginger paste -1 tsp
Garlic paste -1 tsp
Green chilies cut into rounds -1

Fennel seeds -a pinch
Cinnamon -½ inch stick
Onion finely chopped -½ cup
Cloves -2
Cardamom -2 pods
Turmeric -¼ tsp
Mint -1 leaf
Grape tomatoes,halved -3 cups
Fresh cream -3 tbsp
Chopped cilantro -1 tbsp
Cashew nuts -10
Vegetable oil -2 tsp
Butter or ghee(optional) -½ tsp

Salt -1/4 tsp ( or to taste)
Water -3 cups ( for pressure cooking) ,3 ½ cups otherwise

Wash and drain rice. In a pressure cooker with lid off, heat 1 ½ tsp oil, fry one mint leaf, add onions,a pinch of salt and sauté till onions are translucent. Add spices; continue sautéing for 2 more minutes. Once the spices are fried, add chopped chilies, ginger, garlic, and turmeric. Sauté till the onions are golden. Add tomatoes and mix well, cook for a minute. Add the washed rice and gently mix. Gently stir in fresh cream.Add salt to taste. Add water, close the lid, cook till one whistle, and remove from stove. Release pressure after 5 minutes. Fry cashew nuts in ½ tsp oil, drain on paper towels. Remove pressure cooker lid, add nuts, chopped cilantro and butter. Gently mix with the rice. Serve hot with raita and pickle.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great picture... specially the two ripe tomato in the midst of raw ones.Jus' to clarify you add the tomatoes before pressure cooking
rite ? A touch of malai always increases the taste !!

Mrs. K said...

How beautiful!! I want to grow it next summer. Did you start it from seeds?

Anonymous said...

Great pictures Archana. Never tried it with malai. Will try soon..thanks for sharing

Meena Kandlakuti said...

Archana,

tomatoes looks good...does they taste sweet..i never tasted this tomatoes before..thanks for sharing wonderful dish

wheresmymind said...

Are those grape or cherry tomatoes??

KA said...

Archana
Beautiful pictures! I love cherry tomatoes compared to others too, they add great flavor to the Indian recipes.
Nice recipe too

Anonymous said...

Archana, how nice the tomatoes looks..ho i have fallen for their color..i think i should try growing some veges.may be for the next summer..Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe..

Anonymous said...

Lovely pics. Tomato rice is one of my favorite dishes these days due to the ease of preperation. I grew some cherry tomatoes from seed, and they are still awaiting to be transplanted. Too late now.Poor plants!

Krithika said...

Tomatoes look gorgeous ! Never used fresh cream in my tomato bath. I bet it tastes yum ! Thanks for sharing

Nabeela said...

Hi Archana, the rice sounds yummy...will give it a try the next time i'm hankering for tomato rice...btw are those grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes?

Anonymous said...

The pictures are awesome as usual. Adding the cream is a good idea but I guess I will stay away from it, as such even this virtual treats seem to add enough fat to my body :-) So I am going to try your version of tomato rice minus the cream.

Priya Bhaskaran said...

Archana..simply beautiful--- nice pictures:) I love this rice...but never tried adding fresh cream to it-- will try soon!!!

Prema Sundar said...

Hi Archana,
Tomatoes are awesome..
Tomato rice looks great..
adding malai to tomato rice is new to me but Iam sure it will enhance the taste.

Menu Today said...

Hi Archana,
Adding "Malai" give rich taste to tomato rice.This Rice is perfect for Party. Next time I try with cherry tomatoes. Thanks for sharing.

Mandira said...

Never tried the tomato rice with malai, the pictures look lovely Archana

Gattina Cheung said...

Archana,
I don't have a pressure cooker, so when I learnt the tomatoes only left their essense in rice, this fact attracts to me (because I only like their flavor but not the texture). I'll see if I still get the same result when I use my regular cooker. Archana, what the lovely photos you took! Your tomatoes look like jewel! I see the background light tinted with golden hue... the fall is on the way!

Anonymous said...

what a succulent looking tomato archana! how did u resist not popping them in as they were...gobble gobble.

Anonymous said...

Archana, your tomatoes *and* tomato rice look lovely!

Deepa Culinary World said...

Great picture Archana.Just had my dinner but make be angry again.thanks for sharing.

FH said...

Beautiful pictures Archana! I don't know how you do it!! Cherry tomatoes look great, I got lbs of them this year too!! Recipe is great!! Thanks a lot!!

Anonymous said...

Archana, I have tagged you here. If you are interested, please write about it.

Anonymous said...

hii archana...seeing all these wonderful pictures i really wanna grow some veggies...u r doing a great job!!! :))

starry said...

I want to grow some grape tomatoes also. those pics made me think of doing it.maybe next summer. thanks for sharing.you have a green thumb?

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a picture!

Anonymous said...

The rice looks tempting. Your photos are so beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pic spicy !! Adding fresh cream to tomato rice is a nice idea .

archana said...

Jayshree
Thank you so much. Yes I do, now we know!

RP
Thank you. We bought plants; by the time we started it was too late to start from seeds.


Shilpa
Thank you, this is the first time I am adding Malai to a tomato rice recipe, but it worked so well with these tender tomatoes.


Meena
Thank you friend, why don’t you try growing them next year?

Wheresmymind
These were marked as grape tomatoes, and are slightly elongated than cherry tomatoes. So I guess these are “grape” tomatoes.


KrishnaArjuna ,Sudha

Thank you friends.

Gini
Thank you. The same thing happened to our pepper plants, after seeing a pepper plant growing well, decided to start from the seeds. I guess it is too late to transfer those plants right now, so I am probably going to let it go.

Krithika
Thank you. I have never used cream in TR before, this was the first time, and it went well with these grape tomatoes.


Nabeela
Thank you dear. As far as I gather these are grape tomatoes, with slightly elongated shape compared to cherry tomatoes.

KeralaGirl
OK,OK Calorie counting KG, you could try Sudha’s original recipe too.



Priya Bhaskaran
Thank you Priya.



Prema ,MT,Mandira
Thank you folks, I am glad that you all liked it.

Gattina
This should be a breeze for you, considering your skills. You could use the method and water measurement that you use for rice cooker and still use this recipe.


Shaheen
After making this rice, that is pretty much what we did. Gobble, gobble, gobble…


Linda, Deepa, FoodiesHope
Thank you so much friends.


Shilpa
Thank you, I am thinking really deeply about my top five picks, will post it soon.


Kalpana
Thank you ,please do this is not a hard task. This is our first time growing veggies too.

Starry N
Please do SN. I am not much of a green thumb ( though I love plants) , but I think T is.

Inji Pennu
Thank you. Alla ithara, underground-il ninnum Ingiyooo ! Thriichu varu kutteeee….


Mae, Priya
Thank you so much

Mahek said...

hi
what photographs!!!
They take my breath away , to see such fine and healthy tomatoes . wish i was there to actually feel them.

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