# 276 A Prayer and Cherry Tomato Rice

In light of the devastation at the Boston Marathon,Watertown residents stayed vigilant for fear of an escaped suspect for a day until he was found. My heart goes out to each one of them for what they had to go through. Last Friday night we all took a sigh of relief  when the second suspect was captured and taken into custody. In some way or other it affected all Americans and although we continue on with our lives, we utter a small prayer for all those who lost loved ones. We go about our routines, work, commute and dinner as usual, but now we know the distressed families are at peace now that the last surviving suspect was taken in.

Today, I'm sharing a simple Tomato Rice I made last night. The good news is it takes very simple ingredients from your pantry to make this dish, the bad news is that it will disappear so fast that you will have absolutely no leftovers for the next day. Tomato rice is a dish in India and is made from tomato paste pre-prepared and tossed over cooked Basmati rice until it is well coated and flavored lightly. The tanginess of tomato rice is even lighter when using cherry tomatoes and it appears decorative enough to serve at parties. I served the rice with large mussels stir fried with Masala paste although it does not need a side-dish at all.

Ingredients:
Cooked Basmati rice- 4 cups
Garlic, ginger and thai green pepper paste- 2 Tblspn
Onion chopped fine- 1white onion
Ghee- 3 Tablespoons.
Cherry tomatoes halved-1 pint
Cilantro chopped- 1/2 cup
roasted cashews- 1/4 cup
Hot chili sauce with ketchup- 2 Tblspn (also available in Indian groceries)
Whole spices -3 cloves, 2 sticks cinnamon, 2 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves
Salt and Olive Oil as needed

Method:
1. Place a heavy bottomed paella pan(wide mouthed) over medium fire.
2. Add ghee to it and additional olive oil if necessary. Add the whole spices.
allow them to roast for a few mins and toss in the onion and saute until soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic/ginger/pepper paste and let saute until the paste lets out a nice aroma.
4. Add the halved tomatoes and saute for just 2 mins. DO not over cook them.
5. Toss in the rice and chili/ketchup(substitute with 3 tblsp ketchup and 1 tspn chili sauce).
6. Add enough salt to taste and mix well. Remove from fire.
7. Serve garnished with cilantro and cashews. I served it with Indian style Masala Mussels.