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Tomato rice in Malaysia (nasi tomato) is a flavorful dish where rice is cooked with tomato paste and spices like cinnamon and cloves, giving it a rich color and aroma. It's often served with curries, rendang, or fried chicken, and is popular at special occasions.

My mother in-law purchased some lovely beautiful basmati rice and I thought it would be perfect as Nasi Biryani. The recipes I found did however put me off initially when looked at it, ghee, yogurt and milk was just a little too rich for me. So, I changed my plan and cooked this Nasi Tomato instead. This recipe is from old notes that I have. This is my 2nd attempt at cooking Nasi Tomato after almost 25 years (I think!). I remember the first time cooking it for my family in Penang to go with Chicken Kapitan Curry.

You may use the fresh tomato puree instead. I used the canned tomato puree as I happened to have some leftover in the fridge.

I cooked some Dhal Curry to go with it. My Dhal Curry is not yet where I like it. So, I am not sharing the recipe here.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible. Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.

Recipe - Tomato Rice

Yields: 5 servings

INGREDIENTS:

300g basmati rice

1 big onion, chopped

5 bunga cengkih (clove)

5 buah pelaga (cardamom)

1 ½ bunga lawing (star anise)

1 stick kulit kayu manis (cinnamon stick)

150ml fresh milk

400ml water

80g tomato puree (I used Cirio brand)

50g butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 pandan leaves, knotted

Salt to taste

Spices to be ground:

7 (70g) shallots

2 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

1 piece banana leaf, washed & dried (optional)

METHOD:

Rinse and drain the rice. Keep aside.
Heat up butter & oil in a wok. Saute the chopped onion till soft, add in all the dried herbs (cloves, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon) and ground spices. Cook till fragrant.
Add in milk, water, tomato puree and salt. Simmer for a while.
Stir in rice and pandan leaf.
Place all the ingredients in a rice cooker and cook the rice. Half way of cooking, place the banana leaf on top of the rice and continue cooking.
Once the button auto switched to “keep warm”. Then fluff up the rice with a fork or chopsticks and and keep the rice warm in the rice cooker.