Recipe for Tomato Rice | Tomato Biryani
Tomato rice recipe - step-by-step instructions. Rich, delicious and easy Tomato Rice recipe cooked in lusciously sweet coconut milk. A delicious rice dish with mellow flavors!
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 3 whole Cloves
- 2 inch Cinnamon Stick
- 4 whole Cardamom Pods
- 1 whole Star Anise
- 2 Bay leaves dried or fresh
- 1 large Red Onion , or yellow onion, (150g), julienned
- 4 fresh Green Chillies
- 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 30 g Mint and Coriander leaves , (approx. a handful)
- 4 large Roma Tomatoes , (approx. 450-500g)
- 3/4 tbsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder , or 1/2 tsp of regular chili powder
- 325 g Basmati Rice
- 350 ml Coconut Milk* , (thick or first coconut milk), look for Indian or Thai coconut milk cans
- 350 ml Water , (or thin extract*)
Instructions
- Place the Instant Pot inner bowl into the Instant Pot. Set it in SAUTÉ mode for 10 minutes.
- Add the oil into the Instant Pot. Once hot, add the whole spices: cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves and star anise. Wait until the cloves swell up.*
- Add the julienned onions to the oil. Sauté until the onions turn translucent and begin to brown around the edges.
- Next, add the ginger-garlic paste and the green chilies. Sauté for a few minutes and immediately add half of the chopped herbs, followed by the tomatoes and the salt.
- Continue sauteing until the tomatoes begin to soften up and let out juices. Sprinkle in the rest of the herbs.
- Add the Chilli powder and mix it once. Immediately after, add the coconut milk, the water, followed by the Basmati Rice.
- Give it a quick mix. Cover and SEAL with the Instant Pot lid. PRESSURE COOK for 10 minutes.
- After the cooking time, QUICK RELEASE to open the Instant Pot. Give it a mix gently with a fork. Serve it hot!
Notes
- Cloves: It is important that you add the whole spices to hot oil. And it is equally important that you wait until the cloves swell up before adding any other ingredients. The cloves swelling up means that the whole spices have absorbed in the oil and let out its own oil. If this doesn't happen, the flavor of spices won't be spread evenly through the biryani.
- Tomatoes: I like to use Roma tomatoes, it has a lot of flesh and it is sweeter than it is sour. You can also use heirloom tomatoes or any of your favorites tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes will add a bit of sourness to this recipe for tomato rice.
- Chilli powder: Kashmiri Chilli Powder is added mainly for its color. The hotness of it is very less compared to other chilli powder. However, you can use regular chili powder or paprika powder.
- Rice: I've used Basmati rice here. But I use Seeragasamba Rice most of the time; which is another aromatic rice but short-grain rice. You can go for either of these rice varieties based on its availability.
- Coconut milk: Look for Thai style or Indian Style Coconut milk; those that are intended to be used in cooking.
- Coconut milk extraction: If you have coconut or shredded coconut, you can make your own coconut milk. Blend together 300g of coconut meat with 250ml water. Drain to extract the milk; this should give you 350 ml of thick coconut milk extract.