What was your favorite part of the day during your school/college days? Was it by any chance the lunch time? For me it was. I always used to look forward to the lunch time & the period just before the lunch interval was the hardest to concentrate ;) Lunch interval is not just about good food, but also quality time with good friends… a great cocktail mix!
Lunch time can also be called as the sharing time. Along with the yummy treats of home cooked food, all major news were also shared. All the latest gossip in school/college like the new IT couple or the latest movie or your latest crush ;) & what not… were all discussed in that small time. It indeed was a blissful time!
So, tell me… Did you have any favorite lunch time food? I used to take breakfast items for lunch. But what's interesting is that I still clearly remember what my friends used to bring. Yep, there were days that I wasnt very happy about my lunch especially if it was something like upma. On those days my morning prayer usually goes like this: “God please let Jeena bring her mom's cutlets or Reji bring her homemade butter & sugar sandwich or Harpreet bring her Punjabi kadhi & rice or Anu bring her stuffed chapathi, for lunch (& the list goes on..), along with petitions for the Maths teacher to be absent, because I havent studied for the class test”. It was such a simpler time! All you had to worry about was upma for lunch & some class tests.
Anyways coming back to lunch menus, I particularly remember something called Jaldi fried rice which my friend Jeena used to bring. Its called Jaldi rice because it was made by her mom in a jiffy, when she used to wake up late in the morning. Now you know how my tomato rice got the name “Jaldi tomato rice”. I usually make this when I'm in no mood for elaborate lunch cooking with many curries. I just make some flavoured rice like this & some curry & spice up the whole menu with raita, pappad & pickle :)
Before going to the recipe, let me wish you a very happy friendship day! Friends are a blessing that you need to be thankful for along with your family.
About the recipe, its just a very simple recipe. You might be making this already. However in this recipe, I've used only a few basic ingredients, its mainly intended for those days when you are lazy to cook ;) It's been sometime I've posted a rice recipe, so I thought of sharing this with you.
Here is the recipe…
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice (refer notes )
- 1 medium Onion (chopped)
- 1 med – big Tomato (chopped)
- 1 Scrambled egg (optional)
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 – 1.5 tsp Chilli powder
- 1 tbsp each Mint & coriander leaves each (chopped)
- Salt
- Oil (I use sunflower)
Instructions
- Cook the rice in the normal method. Make sure that the rice is not over cooked. Heat oil in a pan & add chopped onion. Cook it till it becomes soft & starts changing colour. Add chopped tomato. Cook it till it becomes soft. Add turmeric & chilli powder. Cook for 1-2 mins, till the raw smell goes. Add salt & chopped mint & coriander leaves. Mix well. Add scrambled egg (if you are adding) & stir. Add cooked rice. Give a good mix. Cover & cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from fire. Serve hot with any curry, raita, pickle & pappad.
Very nice recipes
Thanks Elizabeth :)
Hello Maria, just tried the jaldi tomato rice. Loved it. Thank you very much; Love your stye of writing , it definitely makes one try out new recipes! :)
I use basmathi rice ginger ,green chilies instead of red chillie may be more tomatos..
Hi Maria, could you please tell me how to cook basmati rice for this recipe. Everytime i try to cook them, its either overcooked and sticky or undercooked. Also what do you cook them in…??? have heard people using pressure cooker and thick bottomed vessel. What would you recommand? Any useful tips would be much appreciated. btw, though my rice didn’t came out well i liked the dish. Pretty sure its gonna be amazing with perfectly cooked rice…. :)
Hi Cathy,
I usually cook in a deep non stick pan. I drain the excess water. Boil the water first and then add washed rice. Let it boil, then reduce the flame. When the rice is almost cooked switch off the flame and keep it in the vessel for 1-3 mins, then drain the excess water. You can add some lemon juice and oil to the rice while cooking.
Hope it helps..
Cheers
Maria
Dear maria
I am one among the recent readers of maria’s menu
I love trying out simple healthy and tasty recipes.
As of now I have very little time for cooking because i’ll be busy with my 4 month old son when my husband leaves for job. So I was looking out for easy and nourishing recipes and I found the jaldi tomato rice somewhat easy. but I diidn’t have white rice in my stock but there was plain noodles(Tops). so I did the Jaldi tomato rice following the same steps using cooked plain noodles instead of rice. I always keep Green gram sprouts in my fridge and add a a handful to whatever i make. while frying the onions I added handful of sprouts and a small capsicum chopped and i got a very tasty one pot dish.
thanks a lot
nb: adding a snap of my jaldi tomato noodles version of ur jaldi tomato rice.
Hi Kripa,
Thanks a lot for visiting the site :) Jaldi tomato noodles, eh? Sound like a good idea dear…I’m glad that you could use the recipe :)
Btw, I didnt get the pic, can you please email it to mjm@jpm.cc
Cheers
Maria
Hi, Maria,
I am from Brazil, and I have been in Kerala first time recently. I made your carrot and beans thoram and the tomato rice, with some sardines yesterday and it was delicious! My English husband loves Indian food, and I have lots of coconuts and mango here in Brazil!! Miss the curry leaves, But I use coriander…
A curiosity: why is your name Maria? Seems Brazilian,
Thank you for the delicious site,
Ana
Hi Ana,
Thank you very much for trying the recipes from this space. I’m really happy to know that you like them :) Hope you had a great time in Kerala.
I’m named after my Grandmother :) Names like Mary, Maria etc is very common in Kerala too…
Cheers
Maria
planning to make this dish today.. :)
Thanks Dhivya! Hope it came out well.
We made Jaldi Tomato Rice and Chilly Chicken last Sunday. Turned out lip-smacking! Thanks. :-)
We added some butter to the rice. After the initial frying, the chicken tasted very good even before adding the sauce. So can use the first part of the recipe to prepare Chilly Chicken Fry too.
Hi Salim,
Nice to know that fried rice & chilli chicken came out well. Thanks for trying them & also for posting comment :)
Yes, chilli chicken is good to eat even without sauce, so you can use it as a starter also :)
Cheers
Maria
Hey Maria,
I have been silently following your blog for a while now. To tell you the truth, some of my best dishes are from your blog! Thank you so much :)
Yesterday, I was raving about your blog to a friend of mine, Manju. She smiled and informed me that you are her cousin, Jeena’s friend and have mentioned about Jeena’s mom’s cutlets! Small world..SO here I am, searching for the cutlet recipe and chanced upon the Jaldi tomato rice, which is going to be on my lunch menu today.
Looking forward to many more interesting recipes from you,
Shalini
Hi Maria,
Its been a long I have opened your site. Today I opened your blog to check for some snacks recepie for my son and got my eyes on Jaldi tomato rice,felt so happy on reading the intro and you made me remember our good old school days lunch time. Will surely try ur version of Jaldi Tomato Rice
Hi Jeena,
I do miss those days & your mom’s cutlets! Btw, I hope you will like this version of jaldi rice.
Take care,
Maria
Hi Maria,
Made this the other day….i added some stir fried chicken pieces n some veggies to the recipe and had it with a lil bit of yoghurt and achar…was yummmm… thank you once again for such an easy,yet delicious recipe….
cheers,
Shiny
Hi Shiny,
I’m sure the addition of chicken & veggies enhanced the taste of the rice. I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment dear :)
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria,
I have heard a lot about your blog and recepies! This was the 1st one i tried and it was simply awesome!!! I hv made tomato rice before but something ws missing! Yours was complete!!! loved it!!!!!!
Hi Aparna,
I’m glad that the first recipe itself worked well for you :) Please do try other recipes too when time permits. Hope to see you here often. Thanks for the comment :)
Cheers
Maria
Thank you so much for a wonderful and easy recipe. Tried it out today when I was bc&back home rite at lunch time.keep posting such recipes.
Hi Smith,
I’m glad that tomato rice recipe worked well for you, thank you so much for the comment. I’ll try to add more such recipes…
Cheers
Maria
I used to make something similar when the food coked at home was not of my choice. I sauted the onions, tomatoes and garlic with green chilli and if it didn’t turn spicy enough, I used the green chilli sauce (Chinese)…… This is so coincidental…..I also make this fried rice like combo for my nine year old son as he hates dal-chawal and curries. I add cocktail sausages, salami and whatever cold cuts are available…….
Yeah, this is something you can whip up easily. This is a kind of recipe which can be played around as per your imagination :)
Cheers
Maria
Maria, I tried this tomato rice nd it went good….Thanks for sharing this & keep this good work…Expecting more n more
Hi Nidhi,
Thank you! I’m glad that the rice came out well for you :) Thanks for the comment again.
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria.. Tried this one today. The flavours were so brilliant. Usually my husband doesn’t like these kind of rices. But he simply loved it. I think the coriander-mint leaves is the main flavouring ingredient, which takes it to a different level. I also added some whole garam masala to the oil initially.
Thanks as always ! :)
Gayathri dear,
How are you? How was eid hols? Sorry for the delayed reply… I was in Kerala for 2 weeks, reached Bahrain yesterday.
Yeah I also think the flavour comes from the coriander mint leaves. I’m glad that your husband liked it. Thanks again sweetie for the comments :)
Take care…
Cheers
Maria
hiya, this rice looks inviting..a bit like Malaysian style fried rice which is my all time fav! the pic looks delish.
Thank you Jehanne! I havent tried Malaysian style fried rice yet & so I dont know anything about it…
Cheers
Maria
I read it, made it, enjoyed it.
Pls post more such recipes.
I read it, made it, enjoyed it.
Pls post more such recipes.
Hi Tres,
Thank you! I will try to add more recipes of this kind :)
Cheers
Maria
Hey Maria,
I tried this recipe the day you posted this :-)… It was simply delicious! My daughter loved it like anything… Thank you for posting this!
Hi Reshmi,
Its so great to know that you tried it on the same day, I’m thrilled :) I’m really happy that your daughter also liked it. Thanks a lot for the comment dear :)
Cheers
Maria
Looks super and love the it is “jaldi” version :)
Hi Maria, i go through the above recipe, and it turns out awesome. I use ghee instead of oil and add the garam masala too. Thanks again Maria for this wonderful recipe. Keep going well. God bless you dear
Hi Indhu,
You are welcome dear! Thank you so much for the comment & also for your wishes. Its really nice to know that you liked this recipe.
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria…This is the first time I am posting a comment, so the first thing I have to say is that I love your recipes! :)…and especially admire your style of bringing it to us. Thanks for taking all the pain :)….
Tomato rice is one of my regular escapes on my busiest mornings ..I follow almost the same steps as your recipe..I have felt that adding a pinch of asfoetida gives it a nice flavour…i.e if you are not adding garam masala….
Keep going..
Rachana
Hi Rachana,
Thank you so much for taking time to write to me, appreciate it very much :) I’m happy that you like the recipes posted here.
Adding ??asfoetida sounds nice, I guess its usually added in flavoured rice, right?
Cheers
Maria
Maria,
I was thinking of making some flavoured rice today as all my family can have the left over tomorrows cos m working.Surprisngly, here it goes ur rice recipie.OOHH no words to express my happiness.Good friends r always able to read their friend,s mind .thank u very much for this treat this time.
Hi Nisha,
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment. I’m glad that this recipe reached you on time :) So did you make this?
Cheers
Maria
That looks great and quick :) I also make tomato rice now and then when I am lazy and instead of scrambled eggs, just fry an egg (bull’seye) and serve it on top of the rice (per plate) sunny side up – just for fun!
Veena
Hi Veena,
Thank you! Fried egg on top, sounds like a great idea, I’ll try it that way next time :)
Cheers
Maria
I am making this today. I look forward to your practical recipes, Maria.
Thanks so much for dropping by. Would like to meet you in person, sometime when you are free. Do let me know.
Hey Maria… I think your blog is just FAB! I love the recipes you put up, and I always look forward to reading them! LOVE you!
Hi Ann
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Its nice to know that you like this space :)
Cheers
Maria
I love rice, even plain boiled rice. This recipe is not complex, I will try it next time I make rice.
Thank You.
Hi Anthony,
Please do try it sometime. I’m sure you will like its flavor.
Cheers
Maria
wow very nice and easy recipe!
http://anuzhealthykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/event-berries-strawberry-desserts.html
Thanks Anu!
GR8 RECIPE OF JADI PULAV .LOOKS INVITING
Thanks Santosh!