Tamatar Biryani (Tomato Biryani)

I keep skipping over this simple biryani because it isn't very nutritionally complete on its own. It's basically just rice and tomatoes, so it really needs to be served with some other curries to round out the meal. Luckily, I was feeling up for making a couple other curries today, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to finally check this one off.

I tried to do it in the InstantPot as it seemed like it should work well and make life a little easier. Unfortunately, every time the pot tried to get up to pressure, it'd give a "burn" notice and I'd have to stop it, scrape up all the stuck on bits that were starting to burn on the bottom, add a bit more liquid, and start again. Next time I'll just do it on the stovetop and hope that that works better.

Tamatar Biryani

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. white basmati rice¹
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1/4 tsp. whole cloves
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 2 cinnamon sticks (~7cm long)
• 2 blades mace
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 tsp. ginger paste
• 4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2-3 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, halved lengthwise
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse the rice, drain, then cover with fresh water and let stand at room temperature for ~30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
3. Add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and mace and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the onion and stir-fry for 5-7 minutes.
5. Add the ginger, garlic, and chilies and cook for another minute or so.
6. Add the tomatoes, salt, and turmeric and simmer, uncovered, for ~5 minutes.
7. Drain the rice and add it, tossing to coat.
8. Add the water, stir once or twice, and bring to a boil.
9. Cook (without stirring) until water has evaporated from the surface and craters appear in the rice (5-8 minutes).
10. Stir once, cover, and reduce heat to low.
11. Cook on low for another 8-10 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit on the hot burner, still covered and undisturbed, for another 10 minutes.
13. Uncover, fluff with a fork, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

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¹ I actually think this would be really nice with brown basmati, but, of course, that would require making adjustments to the liquid quantities and cooking times. Which is doable, I just don't have the wherewithal to figured out the changes right now. Something for next time perhaps... ^Back