FENNEL AND TOMATO RICE



Most of my blogger friends and readers know that I am crazy about fennel. I add fennel seeds in all the savory dishes. It is not only because I was taught to cook like that by my granny but also I think I must have inherited her love for fennel seeds. When making variety rice like these fennel seeds imparts a nice flavor to the dish. I love one-pot dishes like tomato rice. I have tried many variations to my favorite tomato rice by adding dill leaves and spinach. This time I tried adding some fennel and we did like this rice very much. Fennel was not too overpowering here and it was indeed very mild blending along with the onions. If you love the flavor of fennel, then you will love this dish!


I have made this rice with brown rice. These days everybody seems to be change to brown rice, many of my friends have stopped white rice completely and we too started getting brown rice only rather then white rice. This is a quite healthy trend indeed. I have used a short grain brown rice variety that I got from Costco. I think that brown basmati rice is the best choice for anyone switching over from white rice to brown rice to begin with. They seem to hold their shape quite well when making variety rice like briyani or tomato rice.


INGREDIENTS:

  1. Cooked brown rice, 1 cup.
  2. Ripe Roma tomatoes, medium-size, 3.
  3. Red onions, medium-size, 2.
  4. Fennel 1 medium-size bulb.
  5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1teaspoon.
  6. Green chilies, 1-2.
  7. Chili powder, ½ teaspoon.
  8. Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
  9. Turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon.
  10. Mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon.
  11. Fennel seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
  12. Curry leaves and cilantro for garnishing.
  13. Salt as per taste.


PREPARATION:

Cook the rice separately and let it cool. The rice should not be mushy. Chop off the stalks from the fennel bulb and discard it. Dice the bulb into small pieces including some of the fronds from the stalk. Dice the onion and tomatoes and slit the green chilies into 2. Heat a pan with 2 teaspoons of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the fennel seeds and fry for 2 seconds. Add the diced onions, fennel, and curry leaves and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn translucent. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes, and green chilies and sauté for a few more minutes until everything is blended. Add the chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt and mix well. Cook closed under low flame for 5 minutes until the raw smell of the spices goes. Now add chopped cilantro and rice and mix everything. Let it sit under low flame and switch off the stove. Serve hot with raita or any spicy side dish.


TRIED AND TASTED: MALAR’S FENUGREEK RICE

This week I also tried Malar’s fenugreek rice and it was really delicious. I had used fresh methi leaves that I had grown in a small pot in my patio. This rice was very mild and went well with potato fry. Click here for the recipe.





35 comments:

Ms.Chitchat said...

Wow, the rice dish looks very tasty,nice clicks.Loved the methi pot.

Kiran said...

Nice and healthy rice.Love the bright grren methi leaves in the pot.

Kanchan said...

Rice looks interesting.

Loved the lovely methi leaves , would love to know how you went about, did you use methi seeds or methi branch directly ?

Padhu Sankar said...

I too love one pot meals. Both the rice dishes look very delicious!!

Sushma Mallya said...

Flavourful & really a nice one gita...

SathyaSridhar said...

Gita,,both the rice looks delicious n fluffy dear.. i never thought to cook tomato rice with fennel bulbs..very healthy recipe dear and u got nice fenugreek saplings dear..

priya said...

another different and delicious rice variety from u...looks so tasty!

Pavithra Srihari said...

both look very good. I like the pot too

GEETHA ACHAL said...

சூப்பர்ப்..அருமையான சத்தான தக்காளி சாதம்...

Urmi said...

Tomato rice looks delicious and tempting. You have presented very nicely. I liked the methi leaves in the pot.

Malar Gandhi said...

Tomato rice with fresh fennel sounds awesome, I always gaze at those fresh fennel in the market but never intended to buy' actually I dunno what to do with them:( Adding them in our regular cooking sounds kool:)

Thanks for trying my recipe:) Growing herbs and greens at home is a wonderful hobby, right.

Raks said...

I too posted,but an usual one ;)

Raks said...

Wow,nice recipe using fennel! Innovative dish!

Treat and Trick said...

Both dishes are really yummy and healthy, beautiful pic too...

http://treatntrick.blogspot.com

Kalai said...

A great healthy recipe Gita, your write-up, makes the dish sound simple and easy to cook and especially, stresses on being very healthy! Love the methi pot! Definitely a tasty one pot dish.

And thanks for the idea of adding methi in all the dish, I never use them, but I am gonna start using now.

Priya Suresh said...

Thats an interesting combination of tomato rice Gita, thanks for sharing..

Methi rice looks fantastic..

R said...

wow both the dishes look so good, have never tried fennel in rice, will try it out after reading this recipe :)

Cham said...

Did u grow from seeds Methi? Pretty healthy ur rice :)

Panchpakwan said...

I too love fennel..This recipe sounds delicious.

Shared some awards with you do collect it from by blog.

Namitha said...

This is a flavorful twist to the normal tomato rice..We have stopped brown rice and startedtaking the white one..lol..

Unknown said...

Both the dishes look fatastic..I am also a big fan of fennel seeds..Great recipe, Gita!

Abhilash Pillai said...

So this is the next try. Nice recipe Gita. I will try it and let you known the feedback.

Preety said...

that's a different rice recipe..great combination of ingredients

Indian food recipes said...

Methi plant luks sooo fresh n healthy!beautiful pic 2...luv the rice recipe....innovative n healthy one...tnx 4 sharing dear

Meena said...

great recipe w/fennel!!! too good!

Nadji said...

Il va falloir essayer des graines de fenouil dans le riz.
j'avoue que je n'y pense jamais.
Ce riz semble délicieux.
See soon.

Usha said...

Lovely fennel rice ! Loved that you grew your own methi....

Vikis Kitchen said...

Very interesting recipe dear. The rice looks healthy n delicious.

AJ said...

I love fennel!! Its so very fragrant and yet not overpowering. Try some in soups too!!

Nisha said...

Use of fennel is really creative.

Faiza Ali said...

WoW !! that looks yummy and interesting.

தக்குடு said...

nice one!

Chef Jeena said...

Hi Gita this is a really tasty and healthy dish. You are great at cooking fennel recipes. :)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Awesome!... looks tempting and yummy.

kitchen queen said...

a delicious and lovely combo.