Tomato Pulao | Mumbai street style pulao | How to make tomato pulao
Veg Pulao is a simple and quick one-dish meal recipe liked by each one of us. Tomato rice is simple and flavoured rice recipe marinated with tomato puree and cooked with vegetables of your choice. Tomato pulao is my favourite dish because it is cooked quickly and can also be cooked with left-over rice. The nice tangy flavour given by tomato sauce is the secret of this yummy pulao recipe. If you are having a time crunch or you are bored with cooking daily lunch and dinner, this pulao recipe is a saviour.
Tomato pulao or tomato rice as the name suggests the main ingredient is tomato, either in the form of tomato puree or tomato sauce. I always prefer cooking with whole tomatoes cut in cube size and a half cup of tomato sauce to add a nice tangy flavour to pulao. This is an ideal recipe for lunch box for kids as well as adults. You can enjoy this pulao for breakfast, lunch, dinner served with boondi raita or cucumber raita or salad.
Today, we will make a Mumbai street style tomato pulao which is usually served on the stalls of pav bhaji. And we love that taste of pulao made on stalls. You can add all the veggies available in your fridge or you can pick as per your choice. We are gonna add pav bhaji masala to get that street style taste along with capsicum and tomatoes mainly. If you wish you can add paneer and mushrooms as well. I love the taste of mushroom in tomato pulao, though, it is optional.
Tomato pulao Recipe Card:
Tomato pulao
Materials
- 1 bowl Cooked basmati rice Take regular rice, if basmati rice not available
- ½ tsp Jeera/ Cumin seeds
- ½ tsp Rai/ Mustard seeds
- 2 large Onions cut in cubes
- 3 medium Tomatoes cut in cubes
- 1 Capsicum cut in cubes
- 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste/grated
- ½ cup Tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp Lal mirch powder/ Red chilli powder
- 1 tsp Dhaniya powder/ Coriander powder
- 2 tbsp Pav bhaji masala
- 1 tsp Haldi/ Turmeric powder
- Pinch of hing/asafoetida
- Vegetables of your choice I have taken ½ red bell pepper, ½ orange bell pepper, ½ cup peas
- Salt per taste
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a thick bottom wide pan or kadhai on a medium flame.
- Add jeera and rai and saute till it splutters.
- Add a tbsp of ginger garlic paste and saute for few seconds.
- Now, add cubed onions and cook it on medium flame till it turns translucent and tender.
- Add cubed tomatoes and cook for few minutes till it turns soft.
- Then add half a cup of tomato ketchup.
- Now add all the spices, hing, haldi, red chilli powder, and pav bhaji masala. And, cover with a lid and cook for 2 mins on low flame.
- Now, add salt, bell peppers and peas and cook for a few seconds.
- Pour half glass of water in a kadhai and cook till it boils.
- As it starts boiling, lower the flame and slowly add cooked rice and nicely mix all the ingredients.
- Cover and cook for 5 - 6 mins. When the rice absorbs all the water, a nice colourful tomato pulao is ready.
- Finally, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve it with salad or raita.
Step by step Instructions:
- Heat the oil in a thick bottom wide pan or kadhai on a medium flame.
- Add jeera and rai and saute till it splutters.
- Add a tbsp of ginger garlic paste and saute for few seconds.
- Now, add cubed onions and cook it on medium flame till it turns translucent and tender.
- Add cubed tomatoes and cook for few minutes till it turns soft.
- Then add half a cup of tomato ketchup.
- Now add all the spices, hing, haldi, red chilli powder, and pav bhaji masala. And, cover with a lid and cook for 2 mins on low flame.
- Now, add salt, bell peppers and peas and cook for few seconds.
- Pour half glass of water in a kadhai and cook till it boils.
- As it starts boiling, lower the flame and slowly add cooked rice and nicely mix all the ingredients.
- Cover and cook for 5 – 6 mins. When the rice absorbs all the water, a nice colourful tomato pulao is ready.
- Finally, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve it with salad or raita.
Important tips for making Tomato pulao recipe:
- Use good quality long grain basmati rice to get the nice texture and aroma.
- You can also use tomato puree instead of tomato ketchup.
- But, tomato ketchup gives a nice sweet and tangy flavour to cooked rice.
- Addition of paneer or mushroom gives an ultimate taste to the dish.
Finally, I would like to highlight a few of my Main Course recipes along with this post. It includes Litti Chokha, Tomato pulao, Aloo Matar kachori, etc.
