Receta Coconut & Tamarind Rice

by Pavani

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes from Fellow BM Bloggers

Dish: Coconut & Tamarind Rice

Today I have a delicious variation to tamarind rice. I bookmarked this coconut tamarind rice recipe from Priya's blog the minute I saw it. I made it couple of weeks back and it tasted amazing, so simple to make but very flavorful and delicious.

Tamarind rice is one of the dishes that is made very frequently in my household, typically around the end of the week when I'm running out of veggies and also during festival season. Both my kids love peanuts, so I had a little extra for them in this dish.

I have couple of recipes for tamarind rice on the blog already. My mom makes this simple version with tamarind pulp and this more elaborate version with puliyodarai spice paste.

In this recipe spice paste is made with tamarind, coconut and spices. This is then cooked in gingely oil to give it a nice earthy flavor -- the paste at this stage can be used right away by mixing with rice to make the puliyodarai or can be stored in the fridge for 2~3 days. Since it has coconut in it, it is not that shelf stable.

Recipe from Priya's recipe:

Coconut & Tamarind Rice

Ingredients:

• ¾cup
• Fresh Coconut, grated
• 3tbsp
• Tamarind pulp
• 3~5
• Green Chilies
• 1tbsp
• Coriander Seeds
• ¼cup
• Sesame oil or Gingely Oil
• 1tsp
• Mustard seeds
• ½tsp
• Hing or Asafoetida
• To taste
• Salt
• 1cup
• Cooked Rice (I use Sona Masoori)
• 1tsp
• Sesame Oil
• 8~10
• Curry Leaves
• 2
• Dry red chilies
• 1tbsp
• Each of Cashews & Peanuts
• 2tsp
• Chana Dal
• 4~5tbsp
• Coconut-Tamarind Mix (from above)

Method:

Make the Coconut-Tamarind Spice paste: Grind coconut, tamarind, green chilies and coriander seeds to a smooth paste adding just enough water to get the blender going.

Heat ¼cup gingely oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once the seeds start to pop, add the ground paste and cook till the rawness cooks off. Add salt and mix well and cook till the oil starts to separate around the edges, takes about 10~15 minutes.

Let the mixture cool completely and store in an air-tight container for upto 3 days.

To make the Rice: Cook rice making sure that the grains are separate. Spread on a plate to cool.

In a small pan, heat 1tsp gingelly oil, add chana dal, red chilies, curry leaves, peanuts and cashews. Once the seeds start to turn golden, pour it over the rice.

Add the coconut-tamarind mix and mix gently with the rice. Taste and adjust the salt.