food talk
Tomato rice

Plain rice seasoned with a dash of chillies and tomatoes can give the Chinese fried rice a stiff competition, says Pushpesh Pant

THE world can be divided in two kinds of people those who live on rice and others who sustain their life on a variety of other cereal crops, meat or maize, or even starches like the potato.

Believe it or not, the good old aloo was the staple for the Irish in the 19th century but it is rice that reigns supreme as the crop that has spawned great civilisations from China through Japan and Korea; the entire South East Asia and, of course, the Indian sub-continent can be treated as the rice zone. Carving of beautiful terraces on mountain sides to grow the verdant crop has been a practice common from the Philippines to the hill states of Uttaranchal.

chef’s corner

Ingredients

Rice (boiled, not mushy) 200 gm
Tomatoes (sliced finely) 600 gm
Oil 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Mustard seeds ½ tsp
Green chillies slit four
Fresh lime juice 1 tsp
Two medium-sized tomatoes (cut into four)
One large sprig curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida.
One small sprig of fresh coriander
Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in a shallow, large karahi. When it reaches smoking point, put in the asafoetida and mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. Now put in the curry leaves and immediately add the tomatoes ensuring that the curry leaves do not burn. Stir well and add chilly powder and continue cooking on medium heat till the tomatoes are blended well. Crumble the cooked rice with hand to remove lumps, if any, and mix well with the tomatoes. Now add the remaining tomatoes cut into four. Also add the green chilles. Stir once more. Cover with a lid for two minutes and add the fresh coriander and lemon juice. Serve hot or cold with a slice of pickle or well set curd.

Scholars believe that it was in India that the wild grass - the mother of all rice varieties - was first tamed. And who does not know that the noblest of all rice grains, the basmati, originally suvasmati sublimely aromatic, is grown only in India. Dehra Dun in this context compares with the Champagne region in France as a geographical indicator that has a unique brand equity. Mischievous efforts to patent a fake Basmati grown elsewhere or improved in a lab have so far been successfully foiled. An interesting feature of this story is the growing popularity of rice in areas that were predominantly lovers of wheat or bajra like Punjab and Rajasthan.

In recent years, a lot more people have included rice in their daily diet.

In ancient Sanskrit texts, rice cooked in milk is parmanna and, of course, in the South, rice has been synonymous with food, anna. The coloured variety in Karnataka is called chitranna and in Tamil Nadu one is mostly not fussy about the length of the grain or the seductive aroma.

Taste is valued above all. Each meal at home or in a restaurant concludes with the extremely satisfying, palate-cleansing, digestion-promoting - taeer saidem.

There are many other recipes that are quick to prepare, temptingly tasty that are part of the everyday repertoire in the South. Lemon rice, ghee rice and what we share with our readers this time - tomato rice. For us, this tangy colourful delicacy has always been far more attractive than any Indian imitation of Chinese fried rice or complicated paella-sheyala.

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