Spicy Tomato Rice & Moong Dal Kheer

Spicy Tomato Rice is one of the dishes I learnt from my mom-in-law when I was India in May. It’s a simple rice dish flavoured with tomatoes and spices. Makes for a good satisfying meal any day of the week.

Spicy Tomato Rice

You will need:

1 ½ cups Basmati Rice
4 medium sized tomatoes
1 onion thinly sliced
12 Dry red chillies ( 8 Byadagi and 4 Guntur)
1” cinnamon stick
2 Cloves
2 Cardamoms
1 Bay leaf
3 cloves of Garlic
1”piece of Ginger
½ Cup Peas (frozen/fresh)
3 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Water

Soak dry red chillies in hot water for 2-3 hours. This helps soften the seeds and skin.

Place tomatoes, ginger, garlic and soaked, drained red chillies in a blender and make a smooth paste.

Wash and soak Basmati rice for 15-20 minutes. Drain and reserve. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamom stick and bay leaf. Saute for a minute. Now add the sliced onions and sauté till translucent and soft. Add the ground paste and the peas. Saute for 2- minutes. Now add measured water for the rice(2 1/4 cups), salt and washed, drained rice. Also add the lime juice.Close lid, place weight on cooker and cook on medium high heat for 2 whistles. Mix well before serving.

Tomato Rice can be served with boiled eggs or a yoghurt raitha.

Update: My friends who stopped by thought 12 chillies were too much and made this dish too spicy. Well, I wanted to mention that the 8 chillies of the Byadagi variety are only for colour and hardly add any spice to the dish, and all the spice comes from the 4 Guntur chillies. So don't panic, go ahead with the 12... :)

Moong Dal Kheer

Kheer made from Moong Dal is very good for the body. It helps reduce excess body heat and helps soothe the body from within.

You will need:

1/3 cup Moong Dal (yellow/split)
3-4 tbsp sugar
3 Cups Water
1 Cup Whole Milk
Cashews and Raisins
1 tsp Ghee

Dry roast split moong dal in a pan till its light and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Bring water to a boil and add the moong dal to it. Let cook till half done. Bring milk to a boil in another pan and add this to the moong dal. Let dal cook completely. You will know when its done when the dal is split on the edges. Add sugar and stir. Bring to a boil. Add more milk if kheer is too thick.

Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add cashews and raisins and fry till light brown. Add this to the kheer.This kheer tastes best when served hot or at room temperature.