Looking for a simple yet delicious rice dish that’s bursting with flavor? Try out this tomato rice recipe! Made with fragrant spices like cumin, mustard, and turmeric, and packed with the tangy goodness of ripe tomatoes, this dish is perfect as a side or a main course.
This easy, quick and delicious Tomato Rice recipe is a favorite main dish from the Tamil Nadu. Also known as Thakkali Sadam in Tamil language, this one pot wonder is tasty, healthy and perfect to pack in a tiffin for lunch box. healthy and flavored rice recipe prepared mainly with basmati rice blend with spiced tomato masala. We can use any other rice too but here I use long grain basmati rice. While this tomato rice is a tad spicy, you can easily adjust the spice level to your liking. Serve it plain, or with plain raita or with spicy potato masala. I love to make a batch of this tomato rice often and serve it for lunch, as it is an ideal dish for packing in a tiffin. And also, my kid refers this as “Red Biryani”, sometimes I pulse grind chopped tomatoes to make rough puree to reduce the time of cooking in busy morning. If you are looking for a quick recipe to make meal that is delicious and nutritious, look no further than this simple tomato rice! It requires only one pot, clean up after preparations also very less time consuming. the same recipe making tomato rice you can mix some vegetables to prepare flavorful simple veg rice.
This recipe is perfect for vegetarians and vegans, and can be easily adjusted to suit your taste preferences by adjusting the spice level. It’s a great option for a weeknight dinner, a lunch box, or even for special occasions. Overall, tomato rice is a simple yet delicious dish that’s sure to become a favorite in your kitchen. Try it out today and enjoy the wonderful flavors of South India!
Tomato Rice Recipe / Thakkali Sadam recipe

Tomato Rice Recipe | Thakkali Sadam Recipe
Ingredients
To Tempering
Instructions
-
Take basmati rice, wash twice and soak for 10-15 minutes.
-
In a pressure pan add oil and ghee.
-
To tempering add items listed under “To Tempering” section.
-
Add sliced onion and sauté till onion turn translucent.
-
Add ginger garlic paste and sauté till raw smell goes off.
-
Add little amount of chopped mint and coriander leaves.
-
Add slitted green chillies and mix well.
-
Add tomato and salt to the gravy.
-
Sauté till tomato become half cooked.
-
Add turmeric powder and red chili powder.
-
Add hand full of chopped mint and coriander leaves and sauté well.
-
Add garam masala powder or biryani masala powder.
-
Sauté well till oil get start to separate from the gravy.
-
In this time add water to cook rice.
-
Taste salt in this stage add according to rice.
-
Allow to boil.
-
Add pre-soaked rice without any water and mixed gently.
-
Pressure cooks the rice for 1 whistle then keep 10 minutes in low flame. Or keep the rice simmer for 15 minutes.
-
Allow to release pressure naturally then open the lid.
-
Mix with care.
-
Garnish with chopped mint and coriander leaves.
-
Very tasty one pot tomato rice is ready to serve with spicy potato garlic masala and onion raita.
Note
- Use juicy ripened tomatoes for the richness and colour.
- The amount of water that you need to add will also depend on the quality of rice. For a softer rice you can add 2 cups and for separate grains, add 1½ cup water.
- After adding rice, gently mix it and do not break the rice grains of tomato rice recipe.