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Home » Indian rice recipes

Tomato Rice Recipe-South Indian Style

Updated: June 24, 2021 / Posted: February 5, 2013 / By Sujatha Muralidhar This post may contain affiliate links· As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases·

Recipe

Tomato rice recipe is another must on Mondays like wearing a formal dress, waking up with the sound of the alarm. The Spicy Indian rice is almost like breaking the weekend mood and getting back to the routine work.

South Indian Tomato Rice Recipe-Thakali Sadham

This Indian tomato rice can be prepared in many variations, but this one is an easy and quick one that you will like for sure.

I got this recipe from my mother in law, and my son likes it a lot. He can have tomato rice in his lunch box for all the weekdays, but with little variations.

Jump to:
  • How does this Tomato rice recipe taste like?
  • What to pair with this Indian spicy rice?
  • Other rice recipes you may like,
  • How to store and reheat tomato rice
  • Variations for Tomato rice recipe
  • How to make Indian Tomato Rice:
  • Other recipes you may like,
  • Printable recipe card

I have prepared this countless times where now I can make this by closing the eyes and with left-hand too. Haha. Telling you this just to make you understand how easy this is among other Indian rice recipes.

This tomato rice recipe is a spicy version of rice with tomatoes, with a strong flavor. But the ingredients can be adjusted as per your taste beautifully.

South Indian Tomato Rice Recipe-Thakali Sadham

Have you checked another interesting Mixed rice variety, Capsicum Rice?

How does this Tomato rice recipe taste like?

This is an authentic South Indian style tomato rice recipe, which is flavorful and tastes delicious. This rice is spicy with a bit of tang, with the aroma of cinnamon and cloves.

This rice is light and will not leave you heavy after eating it. So, it is the best food for the traveling and nondrowsy lunch box menu.

This spicy Indian rice is also called as 'Thakkali sadam' in Tamil. Where 'thakkali' means tomato and 'sadam' means cooked rice.

What to pair with this Indian spicy rice?

Since this tomato rice recipe is hot and spicy. Do not overthink on this, just simply is more in here. It would be great to serve with mild side dishes.

Hard-boiled Egg: A perfect combination I would ever think of while writing this recipe. The eggs can be just boiled without any masala is perfect. Moreover, serving with egg is a way to add lean protein and is practically easy to handle. Check this Egg thokku(South Indian style spicy egg gravy).

Raita: Simple raita is splendid to serve with, cucumber raita, Masala raita, pomegranate raita are some of the easy to make side dishes but tastes super great.

Yogurt: Or just serve with simple plain yogurt or curd.

Other rice recipes you may like,

  • Indian coconut rice
  • Chitranna
  • Egg fried rice-Indian style quick meal
  • Coriander rice
  • Mint pulao
  • Bagara rice
  • Green pepper rice

How to store and reheat tomato rice

If you are thinking of make ahead of this tomato rice recipe, make the tomato base prior to the day of cooking. You can store this tomato base for upto a week in the refrigerator and for months in the freezer.

You need to thaw the frozen tomato base before reheating. You may thaw by transferring it to the refrigerator a day prior to cooking. Or microwave it for 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the quantity.

You can reheat the refrigerated tomato base on the stovetop. for this, add the base and half the quantity of water. Bring it to boil and simmer the flame. Then mix with plain rice.

The tomato rice can be refrigerated, you can reheat by microwaving. Or on the stovetop by stirring. But, on my experience microwaving retains the taste and the flavor. The stovetop method is not upto my expectations.

Variations for Tomato rice recipe

  • Instead of fresh ginger and garlic, you may use readymade ginger garlic paste.
  • You may use garam masala powder also. This is would an aromatic variation, and also enhance the taste of tomato rice.
  • You can cook the rice in your regular method. You can use Instant Pot, a pressure cooker or rice cooker, whichever you are comfortable with.
  • you can also make it with basmati rice or your regular long-grain rice.

How to make Indian Tomato Rice:

Make the tomato base: In a mixer grinder jar, add roughly chopped onion, tomato, ginger, garlic. And grind it to a smooth silky consistency. Do not need to add water, the water content of the tomato is enough for this.
A pro tip: To get the perfect combo of onion with tomato, Check the quantity of tomato should be little more than the quantity of an onion, to get perfect taste and texture of this rice.

Seasoning: In the pan add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, cinnamon, cloves, and fry till it becomes golden brown and starts leaving out the beautiful aroma.
You might be wondering why do we need this much of oil? Tomato rice tastes great with more oil. The cooking oil keeps the rice grain separate and tasty.

Indian Tomato Rice steps and procedures

The spices: Add the ground paste, paprika, cayenne pepper, ground turmeric, and salt start cooking in the medium flame.
If it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, lower the flame further and add 1 teaspoon of oil further to this mixer.  
In the medium heat, cook this tomato gravy in the oil till oil separates and reaches a thick consistency. Now the base should be golden red in color.
Remove from the fire before it reaches a darker color.

Indian Tomato Rice steps and procedures

Mix: Let the tomato base and rice to cool down to room temperature. Spread the cooked rice over a plate and allow it to cool down.

Then mix gently and carefully together, as the rice tends to become mushy when it is handled roughly.

Garnish with coriander leaves/cilantro.

South Indian Tomato Rice Recipe-Thakali Sadham

Other recipes you may like,

  • Capsicum rice
  • Indian coconut rice
  • Indian cilantro rice
  • Peas pulao
  • Indian rice recipes
  • Mint rice

Printable recipe card

South Indian Tomato Rice Recipe-Thakali Sadham

Tomato Rice Recipe(Thakali Sadam)

Tomato rice recipe is another must on Monday's lunch box. This authentic Indian spicy rice is easy to make and tasty to eat. A satisfying meal for lunch.
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Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 429kcal

Ingredients

For grinding

  • 1 yellow onion medium size
  • 2 Roma tomato medium size/ diced tomato 14 oz
  • 1 inch ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic

For the seasoning

  • 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ½ inch cinnamon stick
  • 2 cloves
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder /cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt or as required

For the cooking

  • 2 cups cooked rice /long grain or basmati rice
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro for garnishing

Instructions

For grinding

  • To a blender jar add onion, tomato, ginger, and garlic.
  • Grind it to a fine mixture.

For seasoning

  • Over medium heat, in the pan add vegetable oil, cinnamon, and cloves.
  • Fry till it becomes golden brown and fragrant.
  • Then add the ground mixture, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and salt.

For the cooking

  • Stir occasionally. If the mixture starts sticking to the bottom of the pan, turn to low heat and add a teaspoon of vegetable oil. And cook further
  • Cook till the mixture thickens and turns rich golden red in color.
  • Switch off the heat and allow it cool down to the room temperature.
  • The sprinkle cooked rice over the tomato spice mixture.
  • Gently mix so that the rice coats well with the spicy tomato base.
  • Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with raita.

Notes

  • If it starts to stick to the bottom of the vessel, slower the flame further and adds 1 teaspoon of oil further to this mixer.
  • Make sure the paste should not go darker in color or burnt in the bottom, this will bring the bitter taste to the rice. This can be overcome by stirring it occasionally and maintaining the flame and by adding little oil.
  • To get the perfect combo of onion with tomato, Check the quantity of tomato should be little more than the quantity of an onion, to get perfect taste and texture of tomato rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Sodium: 1183mg | Potassium: 307mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 744IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 1mg
Course Lunch
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Indian tomato rice, tomato rice, Tomato rice recipe
Author Sujatha Muralidhar

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Suja Manoj

    February 05, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    Comfort..love this so much,especially because it is a quick lunch ox recipe.

    Reply
  2. Shailaja Reddy

    February 05, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    Easy to prepare and comfort for lunch box.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    February 05, 2013 at 8:07 pm

    I prepared this receipe following steps... It was really good and tasty!! Thanks for your blog..

    Reply
  4. Bharathy

    February 06, 2013 at 3:02 am

    Simple and nice one pot recipe with minimum ingredients! I like your version!

    BTW 'somebody'has given a word to send entries to 'somebody's event 😉 So 'somebody' is eagerly waiting and waiting... 😀

    Reply
  5. Sandhya Ramakrishnan

    February 06, 2013 at 3:28 am

    Very different version of tomato rice. Kids would love this, since there is no pieces of onions or tomatoes coming their way when eating the rice!

    Reply
  6. pepper bowl

    February 06, 2013 at 3:33 am

    Thanks for sharing your feedback dear Reader. Pl. do come back and continue to pass on your valuable comments, which means a lot to me.

    Reply
  7. pepper bowl

    February 06, 2013 at 3:36 am

    Thats true Sandhya, my son picks everything out of the rice, that would become half of his plate. No such worries in this recipe!

    Reply
  8. pepper bowl

    February 06, 2013 at 3:38 am

    Don't want to make 'somebody' to wait, 'somebody's' recipe is on its way Bharathy :)) !!

    Reply
  9. Arthy Suman

    February 06, 2013 at 3:54 am

    Tomato rice is my favourite...we do have it with chilli tomato chicken dish...

    Reply
  10. Rani's gourmet

    February 06, 2013 at 9:03 am

    simple and delicious way of cooking 🙂

    Reply
  11. Malin Andersson

    March 09, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    Wow! It’s looking so delicious and yummy. I made tomato rice with added vegetables and tomatoes. I am very glad that I found this recipe from your website. I just tried it at my home. It is amazing.

    Reply
    • Sujatha Muralidhar

      March 10, 2016 at 2:50 am

      Glad to hear these words from you Malin!! Happy cooking!!

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Suja!  the person behind PEPPER BOWL and based in Pennsylvania. I focus on easy and simple-to-make recipes with the inspiration of rich flavors with a hint of heat. I enjoy simplifying the recipes with minimal ingredients to suit today's busy lifestyle.

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