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Men can cook: Tomato Palav

Some people call this tomato bath. The same people also call tomato chitranna as tomato bath. Well, which is it? Make up yer goddamn mind!

But what are names anyway? Just meaningless sounds associated with meaningful gizantropitals. See, that’s a name I just made up. It means nothing. 

But I digress. 

Wash and soak a cup of rice in water for about 20 minutes. You can go all fancy and soak basmati rice. Or you can soak whatever is lying around the house as long as it is rice.

In a pressure cooker, dribble a table spoon of oil and same quantity of ghee. Fry some whole spices till they are fragrant. Cardamon pods, cinnamon sticks, peppercorn, fennel, whatever.

Add 3-4 split green chilles, two thinly sliced onions, a couple of pods of chopped garlic and a table spoon of ginger garlic paste. This is also a good time to add a handful of mint leaves and coriander. Fry till the onions are translucent/ golden brown/ until you are happy.

Then add 3-4 chopped tomatoes, and fry till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add a half a teaspoon of chilli powder, a tablespoon of coriander powder, and salt to taste. You might want to add a little bit of water to moisten the whole thing. Just a little.

Once the tomatoes are soft, add a cup and a half of water and bring to boil.

Once the water starts boiling, add the soaked rice, give it a good mix and wait till the water comes to boil again.

Drizzle a good amount of ghee on the edges. Shut the lid of the cooker (make sure the gasket is securely in place), turn the gas down to medium high (half way between low and high). Fuck off for about 10 minutes, or until the first whistle. 

Turn off the stove. Wait for another 10 minutes for the pressure in the cooker to normalise.


Open the lid and treat yourself to a feast.

 Bonus recipe- Palav.

Add whatever vegetables you like- chopped to bite sized pieces, when you add the tomatoes and continue with the rest of the recipe as is.

Congrats. You just got a two for one deal. 

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