Growing up as a kid Tamarind rice was always a delicacy. It was a treat we got from Mom, whenever she was in a good mood.
As a dish its quite healthy filling and importantly tasty. Its also versatile in the sense you can choose to increase the health quotient by adding veggies into the dish. If you want to increase the taste quotient, stick to the base script and use lots of butter/ghee. If the dish is going to be eaten by children it helps to add jaggery or sugar to balance the spice. This makes it interesting for the kids. While you can also add meat into the mix, in my experience it does not come out well and is better avoided.
This need not just be a fresh dish. You can try this with leftover rice as well. This recipe can save a lot of food which other wise might get dumped.
Also note while i have made the tamarind pulp at home for this recipe. As a practise i prefer to buy ready made tamarind pulp at home. These days owing to the lockdown its not available. The process to make pulp has been mentioned below.
Ingredients
Rice
4 cups cooked rice or 1 cup uncooked rice
Salt to taste
2 cups water for cooking rice
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Spice Mix
1 tsp chana dal (split and de-husked Bengal lentils)
1 tsp urad dal (split and de-husked black lentils)
3 dry red chillies
2 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp sesame seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
¼ tsp whole black pepper
Tamarind pulp
1/2 cup tamarind.
2 cups hot water.
Tempering/Tadka
1 tsp urad dal (split and husked black lentil)
1 tsp chana dal (split and husked Bengal lentil)
¼ cup peanuts
¼ tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp asafoetida / Hing
4 tsp jaggery powder
Salt as per taste.
10 to 12 curry leaves
2 dry red chillies
The Recipe
Cooking rice (You can simply order cooked rice as well)
Add a cup of rice, salt to taste and 2 cups water into a pressure cooker.
Pressure cook for 10 minutes or 4 whistles or if cooking normally, till the rice is cooked well. The rice should not become too pasty. Ensure grains are easily separated. If there are lumps break them up gently.
Keep the rice in a separate bowl and allow it to cool.
When the rice becomes warm, add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 tablespoon sesame oil to it.
Mix well and keep aside.
Tamarind pulp
Take 1/2 cup tamarind in a bowl.
Add the 2 cups of hot water and soak the tamarind for half an hour.
Then mash the soaked tamarind in the water and extract the pulp water. Filter and keep aside.
Prepare the Spices
Heat a pan and then reduce the flame to a low.
Add all the whole spices mentioned under the list title 'spice powder' except asafoetida.
Stirring often roast them on a low flame or sim.
Roast till the urad dal and chana dal become light golden or golden. The entire mixture will become aromatic.
Once the lentils have browned well, then switch off the flame and add 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida/hing.
Mix very well and let the roasted spices cool.
Then in a dry grinder or a spice grinder, add all the spices. Break the red chilies and then add.
Grind to a fine powder. Keep aside.
Pulikachal
Heat 3 tablespoon sesame oil in a pan.
Add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon urad dal
Also add 1 teaspoon chana dal and 1/4 cup peanuts. If you want you can roast or fry the peanuts separately also and add in the rice towards the end.
Sauté on a low flame till the lentils turn golden. The peanuts will also get done by this time.
Once the peanuts as well as the lentils turn golden, then add 2 to 3 dry red chillies, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi and 10 to 12 curry leaves. You can even switch off the flame if you want.
Also add a pinch of asafoetida. Mix well.
Now strain the tamarind pulp and directly add in the tempering mixture. Strain very well. You can even strain tamarind pulp before and keep aside. Stir and mix everything.
Add salt and 1 to 2 teaspoons of jaggery powder. You can add less or more of jaggery or skip it.
Mix well and simmer the mixture on a low to medium flame.
Bring this tamarind mixture to a boil and continue to cook.
Cook till mixture has thickened a bit and you see oil floating on top.
Then add the ground spice powder.
Mix very well.
Continue to simmer the pulikachal for some more minutes. Do stir often.
Cook till the mixture becomes thick like a thick tamarind sauce or chutney.
Once this consistency is achieved, then switch off the flame. Keep the pan down.
Tamarind rice
Add the Pulikachal to the rice.
Gently mix very well.
After the mixing is done, you can serve right away or wait for some minutes for the flavors to infuse and then serve.
Serve tamarind rice with fried papad, pickles and tapioca crackers.
There you go! A nice steaming plate of tamarind rice ! The perfect healthy and tasty snack on the go. This can also double up as a meal and for those mothers who wish to make this healthy for their kids can always put lots of vegetables into the mix.
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did growing up. If you wish to know anything about Indian dishes do reach out via the comments section. I will try my best to share with you.
