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Tamarind Rice

When one says tamarind rice, we think of plantain leaves lightly toasted over fire and tamarind rice wrapped in it, long distance travels, picnics and quick school lunches. Mom almost always had her stash of tamarind sauce or Puzhikachal as we call it in the refrigerator for those days when she wanted to whip up something quick. So all she had to do was cook some rice and mix it in with the sauce and to give it life, a tempering of mustard leaves, urad dal, peanuts and curry leaves can get us kids straight to the kitchen to see what magic was being created in the kitchen.

I have been craving tamarind rice for almost a month now. When my sis and I were having one of our daily conversations, I asked her for the recipe.

Sis: Soak tamarind (size of a big orange )in warm water.

Shankari:  Can you please give me the recipe using tamarind pulp, it gets very confusing

Sis:  ( A big sigh over the telephone) tsk tsk  don’t tell anyone you give cooking classes, ok?. Come on Shankari, how difficult is it to make tamarind pulp.

Shankari: But how do I know if I added too much water or less for making the pulp. I have an idea, why don’t you make a large batch and mail it?

Sis: I am emailing you the recipe, you make it. It does not matter if you add too much water, it will just take longer to thicken..ok?

Can you tell, she is the older one? This is one recipe that I have shied away from, a huge mental block that I can’t make it as well as my mom or sis.  So when she emailed me the recipe, I would read the recipe, almost go to the kitchen to make it and then find an excuse to back off. This happened a few times before my craving took over and you know the rest.

Anyhow here is the recipe for a few of you who requested it on facebook after Rajesh posted the picture. The taste was exactly like my mom makes it. The happiness I had knew no bounds. Thanks Sis for an awesome recipe.

Tamarind – 1 cup packed ( look for tamarind without seeds)

Salt – 2 tsp or more to taste

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Urad Dal – ½ cup

Channa Dal – ½ cup

Coriander Seeds – ½ Cup

Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp

Tuar/Toor Dal – 2 T

Whole Black Pepper – 2 to 3 T

Dried Red Chillies –  25 ( approx)

Curry Leaves – 1 cup (packed)

Sesame seeds – 1 T

Sesame oil – 2 cups

Unsalted Peanuts – 1 cup

Mustard Seeds – 1 T

Urad Dal – 1 T

Channa Dal – 2 T

Asafetida/hing – ¼ tsp

• Soak tamarind in hot water, about 2 -3 cups
• Dry roast in a pan  urad dal, Channa Dal, Coriander seeds, fenugreek, Toor dal , black pepper, 3/4^th of the dried red chillies and ¼ cup of the curry leaves ( I prefer to roast each one separately)
• Roast until they change color and powder finely in a food processor.
• Roast sesame seeds and powder it separately.
• It is time to extract the tamarind pulp. Crush the pulp with your hands and squeeze all the juice you can.
• Strain the juice through a thin sieve. You only want the thick tamarind juice that we strain along with the water we soaked it in. Add salt and turmeric powder and set it aside
• Now heat the oil in a dutch oven, and when the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, remaining red chillies, remaining curry leaves , asafetida and peanuts and sauté until the peanuts are roasted in medium low heat.
• Add the tamarind juice and simmer on medium low, until it starts reducing and it almost as thick as ketchup.
• Now add the roasted powders and make sure it does not burn.
• The sauce will thicken even more. Add the sesame powder and switch off the stove.
• If the sauce has absorbed all the oil and it is almost dry, add some more oil. If you are adding oil, heat the oil until it is warm and add it. The sauce should be soaked in oil if you want to store it for a longer time.
• Adjust for seasonings and when cool store in an air tight container and refrigerate
• When you want to make tamarind rice, cook rice and allow it to cool ( each grain of rice should be separate)
• In a pan, heat about a teaspoon of oil and season with mustard seeds and urad dal, add some of the tamarind sauce. You can also add cashewnuts and curry leaves
• Add it to the rice and mix well.

Pointers:

• Make sure you use a dry spoon when stirring
• The amount of chillies varies to he kind of chillies you use and also how hot you want it
• We use gingelly (sesame) oil available at Indian stores
• Please do not use Olive oil for this sauce

There are days when we like to eat rice and yogurt. Eat it alongside this tamarind sauce and no pickle will come close to this kickass combo.

Do send us  an email or leave a comment if you have any questions. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do.