Mixed Rice | Tamarind Rice

This recipe for Tamarind rice serves for a maximum of 3-4 people.

Things required 

• Tamarind juice 
• Boiled rice (4 cups) 
• Red chillies 
• Peanuts 
• Chana dal 
• Mustard 
• Curry leaves 
• Oil 
• Salt to taste 
• Coriander seeds and fenugreek or Methi (मेरा). 

 

Before cooking

Preparing tamarind juice 

Take a medium lemon sized portion of tamarind in a bowl, add salt and boiling water to it, let it soak for approximately 15 minutes, once the water is lukewarm; use your hand to squeeze the tamarind to extract the juice. Once it disintegrates (not completely), take a droplet and taste it. It should be tangy not salty, right from the point it touches your tongue. If not add more tamarind. Once completed keep aside. 

Preparing base masala 

Dry roast some methi, red chillies and coriander seeds in somewhat medium flame. Do not burn it, slightly roast them, until you can get the smell. Then let them cool down a bit and then powder them using a mixer. Keep aside! Note: if you do not have coriander seeds, use coriander powder, but make sure you roast them too. 

Roasted peanuts

More the merrier. Add a handful of peanuts, roast in medium flame until golden brown. Again do not burn them. Keep aside ! 

Steps: 

1. In a wide based pan, add oil and wait for it to get heated. 
2. Once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds and wait for splatter. 
3. Add curry leaves, red chillies and do not let it burn, with few seconds of adding, add chana dal. 
4. Give it a mix up, once the chana dal is a bit brown. 
5. Now you need to add the tamarind juice to the garnished mixture. TAKE CAUTION when adding the tamarind juice, as it will splatter, produce much steam that it might cause injury. 
6. Once it is added, it's a waiting game for a few minutes. Constant stirring is required, as you should not allow the smokiness into the juice. 
7. The water will start condensing, making it a bit thicker. 
8. Before it completely becomes thick, add the base masala, and the roasted peanuts. 
9. Keep stirring, now you will be able to see the oil coming out of the paste. That's your cue, to add rice. 
10. This might be tricky, add bit by bit, do not add too much rice else you risk the chance of loosing flavor of the tamarind. If you have walked through the recipe religiously, you light have noticed that we did not add any salt, as we have added salt in the tamarind, we do not want to over salt the food, so check for salt. 
11. Add if required. 
12. Food is ready to be served !