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Tomato Rice Recipe | Thakkali Sadam Recipe

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Thakkali sadam is one of my favourite variety rice recipes from Tamilnadu. I have already posted my easy tomato rice recipe here but this one is more authentic and has some grinding and roasting to do before you can enjoy it. And let me also tell you that its totally worth the effort. Of course, if you are too pressed for time or are too tired to be doing anything than some bare minimum chopping and stirring than my first tomato rice recipe is the one for you.

The paste

This is my aunt’s special recipe and she has been using it for ages to impress her guests (and my uncle of course). If you love South Indian rice recipes, then you may like this raw mango rice recipe, puliogare, or a simple lemon rice recipe.

Tomato Rice Recipe | Thakkali Sadam RecipeTomato Rice

Thakkali Sadam is a great dish to pack away for a trip or for lunch box for work or school. It tastes good even after it’s gone cold and all you need is a good raita or papad to pair it up with. I used to regularly take Thakkali Sadam in my lunchbox to school and all my Malayali friends who don’t eat it that often would love to take a bite or two.

THAKKALI SADAM RECIPE

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
Rice – 2 cups
Tomatoes – 3 ripe medium-sized ones
Onion – 1 medium, very finely chopped
Salt – to taste
Dry-roast and grind:
Coriander seeds (malli) – 1.5 tbsp
Chana dal – 2 tbsp
Red chillies – 5 or 6
Fenugreek seeds (methi/uluva) – 1/2 tsp
For tempering:
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Chana dal – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 3, chopped fine
Peanuts – 1/2 cup (I use slightly more since I like their crunch in the rice)
Asafoetida/hing – a pinch
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Sesame oil (nallennai) – 2 tbsp

How to Make Thakkali Sadam

1. Dry roast and grind the list of ingredients under that head and leave aside to cool. Make sure that you don’t burn the fenugreek while roasting. To avoid this, add it once the other ingredients are almost roasted.

2. Cook the rice. Make sure that its not overcooked or too mushy. I used ponni rice but basmati brings out a nice flavour and unique taste to the dish.

3. Heat the oil and temper mustard seeds and urad dal. Add the chana dal, green chillies, peanuts and chopped onions and saute for about 2 to 3 mins.

4. Then add the turmeric, hing and the curry leaves. Fry for another minute or two.

5. Add the ground powder (masala) and fry for another 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Now add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Keep the fire on low and cook till the raw smell leaves the mixture. This should take about 10 to 12 mins. Add salt. The oil will begin to separate. Make sure that the mixture is a thick paste and not watery (in short, don’t add water).

7. Once done, mix in the rice, stir well until blended well and serve hot with raita, pickle and papad.

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  1. katiekateBKLN says

    Hi miss Nags-

    I made this last week for lunches for my husband and myself, and it came out very well- well received by DH & super tasty!

    And not a terrible amount of prep/ grinding. I did however double the recipe, coz I thought 2c of rice wouldn't make sufficient for a couple of meals- boy did I get more than I bargained for! Tomato rice for days! Finally took pity on DH and made him a sandwich…

    Looking forward to trying some of your other rice recipes-

    Reply

  2. Anonymous says

    I'm going to try this recipe but I have one question…Do you need to pre cook the dal before I use it in this recipe??

    Reply

  8. maria says

    Hi, I think your site is amazing and the food looks absolutely delicious. I’d like to try some recipes soon! If I post them on my blog, I will include a link to you and give you credit for the recipe of course. I hope this is ok?

    I have some questions though re: this recipe.

    Can you give me another name for these things as I’ve never heard of them before:

    Urad dal – 1 tsp
    Chana dal – 1 tsp

    And: Asafoetida/hing ?

    Reply

  9. A says

    Hi Nags,

    Tomato rice ( similar to the quick version you posted) is a quick fix dish on weekdays.. Thank you for this authentic recipe..

    Can we prepare the masala powder and store it in the fridge for later use?

    Thanks!
    J

    Reply

  10. Nags says

    J – Absolutely! But I wouldn’t suggest storing for over a month cuz I feel the flavour will be lost. It won’t go bad though. I would store it in the freezer, just to be on the safer side 🙂

    Reply

  13. Bob LaGatta says

    I don’t know on how I stumbled upon this cooking blog., All I know is that I’d better check out the archives for a good read. Ha-ha! Just droppin’ to say hi!
    Oh. You might want to check this out: https://www.technocooks.com for uhm…a different “menu.”

    Reply
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