Tomato Biryani
Tomato Biryani is a one-pot vegetarian rice dish with herbs and spices.
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 TB coconut oil
- ¼ tsp whole cloves
- 6 whole cardamom pods
- 2 cinnamon sticks 3" long
- 1 curry leaf
- 1 red onion, medium cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 serrano chilis thinly sliced (if you are leery of the heat, remove the seeds)
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- lime, to garnish
Instructions
- Place the rice in a medium-size bowl. Fill the bowl halfway with water, to cover the rice. Gently rub the slender grains through your fingers, without breaking them, to wash off any dust or light foreign objects (like loose husks), which will float to the surface. The water will become cloudy. Drain this water. Repeat three or four times, until the water remains relatively clear; drain. Now fill the bowl halfway with cold water and let it sit at room temperature until the kernels soften, 20 to 30 minutes; drain.
- Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in the cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and curry leaf. Cook until they sizzle, crackle, and smell aromatic, 15 to 30 seconds. Then add the onion and stir-fry until it is light brown around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Mix in the ginger, garlic, and chiles. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute- do not let the garlic brown.
- Stir in the tomatoes, with their juices, and the sea salt and turmeric. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the drained rice and toss gently to coat the grains with the tomato sauce. Pour the water and stir once to incorporate the ingredients. Bring to a boil, still over medium-high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated from the surface and craters are starting to appear in the rice, 5 to 8 minutes. Then (and not until then) stir once to bring the partially cooked layer from the bottom of the pan to the surface.
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes (10 minutes for a gas burner). Add the pea, quickly cover and then turn off the heat and let the pan stand on that burner, undisturbed, for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff the rice with a fork, sprinkle with cilantro and the squeeze of lime.