Thakkali Sadam | Tomato Rice Recipe
Thakkali Sadam or tomato rice is a common lunch box recipe or an item much preferred during an outing or a picnic. It also is a wonderful quick and easy recipe to make with left over rice. Paired with curd rice / yogurt rice, this is one of our favorite lunch or dinner.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 248kcal
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice I use sona masoori rice
- 1 ½ cups Tomatoes about 4 large - chopped into small cubes
- 1 cup Onion sliced
- 3 Green chilies Finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Ullatham paruppu / Urad dal/ Black gram dal
- 1 teaspoon Kadalai paruppu / channa dal / Bengal gram dal Channa dal
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Asafetida
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
- to taste Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- few Curry leaves
Instructions
- Cook the rice and cool it down on a wide plate or bowl. I cook my rice in Instant pot.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the urad dal and chana dal.
- When the lentils turn golden brown, add the chopped onions, green chilies, asafetida and curry leaves. Sauté until the onions turns translucent (about 4-5 mins).
- Now add the chopped tomatoes, chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and sugar. Sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes and adds a nice flavor to the tomato rice.
- Cover the pan and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked (about 8 mins). Now open the lid and let the extra moisture evaporate. The base for the tomato rice (also called the tomato thokku) is ready.
- Add this tomato thokku to the rice and mix well. Adjust the salt and serve with Appalam or vadam.
Video
Notes
Expert tips
- Cook the rice with a little less water than you would to make sure that the rice is separated and not mushy.
- I also like to cool down the rice a bit before mixing it with the prepared tomato rice paste.
- When packing for lunch box or or for travel, make sure to cool down the tomato rice before packing. This prolongs the shelf life of tomato rice.
- We can make the tomato rice paste ahead of time and refrigerate it. This way we can use it any time we need it.
- I like to add a touch ghee (if not making it vegan) as it adds a nice layer of flavor.
- Adding a little sugar when making the tomato rice paste balances the acid.
Nutrition
Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 127mg | Potassium: 248mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 615IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg