Tamarind Rice

 My children love their sour lollies.  Little hard jellies in the shape of worms covered in sugar crystals. So sour it would make my brain go numb. To be honest, I am not a fan of it at all. Now, the sour fix we used to get when we were kids was from the fruit called tamarind. All natural, bean shaped, with seeds inside, green when unripe and dark reddish brown when ripe. Sweet, sour, tangy, making my mouth water even as I write about it - that is the unique quality of the tamarind.  Every South Indian home has a stash of tamarind in the pantry. My grandmother used to place fresh picked tamarind into large jars of concentrated palm toddy syrup.  Eventually, the natural crystals of brown sugar would form and cling on to the fibres of the tamarind. One of those, with a bit of syrup on the side - by God, it was a heavenly treat that nothing else can beat!

I have not had them in decades.  In fact, I do not even know if anyone makes it in their homes any more. Whether or not they make it, the tamarind is as important as the chilli in the South Indian cuisine.

One of my childhood favourites and now my children's favourite is the tamarind rice.  This rice can be made a couple of days ahead and stored in the fridge.  It doesn't go off easily.  The reason is the tamarind acts as a preservative. When we went for picnics, tamarind rice packed into little parcels inside banana leaves were a must have item.

Ingredients:

1 mandarin sized ball of tamarind, soaked in hot water and pulp squeezed out

6 cups of cooked rice

1 tablespoon of crushed jaggery 

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoons coriander powder

3 teaspoons Kashmiri red chilli powder 

5-6 tablespoons of Indian sesame oil (or any vegetable oil)

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tablespoon urid dal 

1 tablespoon channa dal

2 dried red chillies

1 stalk curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon asoefetida

salt to taste

2-3 tablespoons salted peanuts with skin (optional)

Method:

Take the cooked and cooled rice in a platter.  Pour 3 - 4 tablespoons of oil on the rice.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the remaining oil. Add mustard seeds.  When they splutter, add the dals, red chilli curry leaves and asafoetida. Roast till the dals go golden.  Do not burn.

Add the powders and mix for about 10 to 15 seconds.

Next, add the squeezed tamarind water.  Remember, use a tea strainer and remove the pulp. You just need the clear tamarind water.  You should get about 2 to 3 cups of sour tamarind water from the ball of tamarind.

Pour the tamarind water into the saucepan with your roasted dals and cook for about 15 minutes till quantity of the tamarind water reduces to about half, and oil floats on the top of the liquid.  Add the jaggery and mix well till it dissolves. Add salt to taste.  At this point, you can take this liquid and store it in a jar in the fridge for later use if you want. For example, if you don't want to make 6 cups of rice, you can pour this in a jar and use just a small quantity for the amount of rice you are using. The rice needs to be coated well with the liquid, without being too wet.  That is the only criteria.  What starts off looking like this :

Will become like this - and this is the time to start mixing in the rice.

Mix the rice in in batches, making sure to coat the rice with the tamarind juice. Garnish with roasted peanuts. 

Serve hot with coconut chutney, fried chicken, fried potatoes, green apple pickle, boiled eggs or any other side dishes of your choice.  This makes a perfect picnic rice and it can stay in a container for 5 to 6 hours without getting spoilt.