TARMARIND RICE

Tamarind rice is a very popular in Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka. It is spicy, sour, and typically served all by itself or accompanied by salad.

Ingredients: 1 cups Rice A small ball of tamarind Curry leaves Asafetida 1 tsp mustard oil Salt A few peppercorns " piece of ginger, finely chopped A pinch of mustard cup water (to soak tamarind) 2 tbsp groundnuts roasted 50 gm split black gram 50 gm split bengal gram 2 red chilies

Method: Cook the rice with salt. Cool slightly. Soak tamarind in water and extract its juice. Roast black gram, Bengal gram and red chilies separately and coarsely grind them together. Heat oil, add asafetida, mustard, peppercorns, ground nuts, ginger and curry leaves.

When mustard splutters, add the tamarind extract, powdered splices and salt, and cook till all water thickens. Mix the tamarind mixture thoroughly with the rice, cover and serve hot.

URAD DAL KI KHICHDI

This is a completely different take on the normal khichdi. While the moong dal khichdi is good during illness, this one makes no such claims. It is just a really tasty rice dish.

Ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice cup urad dal (split, with skin) 1 onion, finely chopped 5 garlic cloves, minced 5 cloves 2 tbsp mustard oil 3 cups water Salt

Method: Wash the rice and dal. Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker and add cloves, onion, garlic and saut. Add the rice and dal and stir for 1 minute.

Add water and salt and pressure cook for 7 minutes. Top with ghee and serve. Handy Tip: Whenever you use basmati rice, always wash it just before cooking. If you wash it in advance, the rice tends to become sticky once cooked