Tomato Biryani

Yet another week flew by and I'm back for this month's 2nd edition of Blogging Marathon. For this week, my theme is "Cooking from BM Blogs". It was really difficult to settle on one blog and I had 3 recipes picked out from almost all of the marathoner's blogs and finally made 3 dishes from Valli's "Spicing your Life". 

Valli is the master mind behind Blogging Marathon and I'm always amazed on how she manages to be a full time working mom of 3 young kids, an active blogger AND organize blogging marathons, cooking melas and Indian Cooking Challenges. Blogging marathon has given me a chance to try variety of dishes and also keep my blog active at least 2-3 times a month. So big Thanks to Valli for being an inspiration to me.

For today's post, I made Valli's quick & delicious "Tomato Biryani" that goes with the "30 minute meal" theme. I bookmarked it the minute I saw it on her blog, but haven't had a chance to make it until now.

I used store-bought  biryani masala (Shan brand) instead of making my own, like Valli did. But the end result was quite delicious and I'm sure homemade will definitely make it taste even better. Also I added some coconut milk and tomato paste, since I had them in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1cup

Onion - 1 medium, thinly sliced

Tomatoes - 3 medium, chopped

Tomato paste - 2tsp (optional, to make the dish a little more tomatoey)
Green Peas - ½cup (I used frozen peas that were thawed)

Ginger + garlic paste - 1tsp

Biryani masala - 1tbsp 

Green chilies - 1, slit (I used the long slender ones from my container garden)

Coconut milk - ½cup (optional)
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Turmeric - ¼tsp
Salt - to taste

 

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a saucepan; add cumin seeds and once the seeds start to splutter, add the onions and green chili. Saute until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add g+g paste, turmeric and cook for another 1 minute.
• Next add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato paste; cover and cook until the tomatoes are mushy, about 5 minutes.
• Add biryani masala, green peas and coconut milk. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add rice along with 1½cups of water and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil; lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked.
• Turn off the heat and let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

This is a great one pot dish that is perfect as a quick weeknight dinner and the leftovers taste great in next day's lunch too. Rice can be cooked separately and added to the tomato masala instead of cooking them together. Adding cooked soy chunks, chickpeas, tofu or paneer will add protein and bulk to the dish.

 

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 19.