Méli-mélo: Tamarind Rice (GF)

(During my brief hiatus between books, I will be posting miscellaneous, aka “méli-mélo” recipes. Enjoy!)

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My good friend Lavanya (ig: @iamlavanyashetty) makes the BEST tamarind rice, which is a typical rice dish from South India, where she is from. I am not kidding you guys, this is restaurant-quality tamarind rice. It is SO GOOD. She was kind enough to teach me the recipe, for which I will be forever grateful :)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

• 1/2 tsp. dried chana dal

• 1/2 tsp. dried urad dal

• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

• Handful of whole un-shelled tamarind pods (amount should equal about the size of a lemon)

• 1 cup uncooked white Basmati rice

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

• 1 tsp. black mustard seeds

• 2 Tbsp (8-10 leaves) fresh curry leaves

• 2 dried Indian red chilies (or Kashmiri chilies), crushed/broken

• 1 tsp. cumin seeds (whole)

• 1/2 tsp. turmeric

• 1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

• 1/4 cup peanuts or cashews

Instructions:

1. With a mortar and pestle (or a spice grinder), grind the following ingredients into a fine powder:

   • 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

   • 1/2 tsp. dried chana dal

   • 1/2 tsp. dried urad dal

   • 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

2. Soak tamarind in hot water until it is soft (about 10 minutes). Drain, and then mash into a paste using a mortar and pestle or using a blender.

3. Cook rice to package instructions, then set aside.

4. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Fry mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried chillies, cumin seeds, turmeric, salt, and peanuts (or cashews) until mustard and cumin seeds start to crackle, and turmeric darkens.

5. Add in tamarind paste and fresh spice powder (from step #1), and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes.

6. Mix in rice and stir until rice in thoroughly coated.

7. Serve immediately, or after a day or 2 in the fridge (many people prefer it after a few days!)

8. Enjoy!