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    Home » Rice

    Tamarind Rice

    Published: Jul 25, 2013 · Last Modified: Aug 24, 2022 by Kanan Patel / 18 Comments

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    Tamarind rice recipe - One of the best, delicious South Indian rice preparations. It has tangy/sour, spicy taste.

    Tamarind rice in a bowl.

    I have dry roasted the spices and ground to make fresh masala powder and used in making this rice. Freshly ground masala gives nice flavor to the dish.

    In other languages, it is known as Pulihora, Puliyodharai or Puliyogare. The term puli means something sour. In this case, it comes from tamarind. It is also called imli rice where imli is the Hindi word of tamarind.

    I have adapted this recipe from "this cookbook". And I already mentioned in tomato rice post that I am in love with this book. It has many amazing authentic south Indian recipes. I have planned to make many more recipes from this book and of course I will share those here.

    There are many ready packets like MTR and other brands available for this dish. But nothing can beat this freshly homemade.

    Try once making it at a home from scratch and you all will love it.

    If you are going to make this rice on regular basis like once a week or so. Then I would suggest that you make large quantity of spice powder and store it and use as required. As you know that spice powder always has long shelf life, I meant at least 5-6 months.

    I have added some jaggery to it and it just balance out tangy flavor of tamarind.

    Check out more rice dishes
    Lemon rice  //  Raw mango rice  //  Carrot rice // Curd rice

    Step By Step Photo Instructions:

    1) First, cook the basmati rice and let it cool.

    2) Dry roast the sesame seeds on medium heat till it get light brown. They will start to pop and you will get nice aroma of toasted seeds. Remove it to the plate and let it cool completely.
    Roasting sesame seeds.

    3) In the same pan dry roast the spices (chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds, dried red chili and curry leaves). Keep stirring constantly while you roast. Roast them till they get light brown color. Remove it to another plate and let it cool completely.
    Dry roasting dal and spices.

    4) While spices are cooling make tamarind water. If using tamarind paste then dissolve it into 1 cup of hot water. Or if using tamarind then keep the tamarind in hot water for 15-20 minutes and then squeeze out all the pulp.
    Tamarind water in a bowl.

    5) Now the sesame seeds and spices are cooled completely. So coarsely grind the sesame seeds and keep it aside for garnishing.

    6) Also grind spices into a fine powder.Below left side is coarsely ground sesame seeds and on right spice powder.
    Ground spice powder.

    7) Now let’s start making tamarind rice. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add mustard seeds. Let them pop.
    Tempering of mustard seeds.

    8) Then add dry red chili and curry leaves. Saute for a minute.
    Adding dried red chili.

    9) Add peanuts.
    Adding peanuts.

    10) And roast it till it gets light brown.
    Roasting peanuts.

    11) Then add tamarind water.
    Add tamarind water.

    12) Add freshly ground spice powder, turmeric powder, jaggery and salt. (be careful while adding salt if your cooked rice has already salt in it.)
    Adding spices.

    13) Mix and let it simmer.
    Spice powder is mixed.

    14) Cook till it thicken and become a paste like consistency.
    Cooked to thick paste.

    15) Then add cooked rice.
    Adding cooked rice.

    16) Mix gently till all the masala paste it coated to the rice evenly.
    Rice is mixed.

    17) Lastly garnish with sesame powder. And serve.
    Sprinkling coarsely ground sesame seeds.

    Here I have added only peanuts for some crunch. But if you want you can add some cashews too.

    Serving suggestion: Enjoy this tamarind rice as such along with your meal or with a papad. This can be packed into lunch box as well. This is usually cooked in special occasions and sometimes offered to the god as a prasadam.

    Tamarind rice in a bowl with 2 spoons.

    Did you try this tamarind rice recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.

    Step by Step Photos AboveWant to make it perfect first time? Don't forget to check out Step-by-Step photo instructions and helpful Tips & Tricks !!
    Tamarind rice recipe - Imli rice - South Indian Pulliodarai
    Print Pin Save Saved!

    Tamarind Rice

    5 from 5 votes
    Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and/or give ★ ratings
    Tamarind rice recipe - One of the best, delicious South Indian rice preparations. It has tangy/sour, spicy taste.
    Author: Kanan
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: South Indian
    Calories: 522kcal
    Servings 2
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 40 minutes
    US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml) See details

    Ingredients  

    • ½ teaspoon Chana dal (split bengal gram)
    • ½ teaspoon Urad dal (split skinless black gram)
    • ⅛ teaspoon Mustard seeds
    • ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
    • ¼ teaspoon Black peppercorns
    • ½ teaspoon Fennel seeds
    • 5-6 Curry leaves
    • 2 Dried red chilies
    • 2 teaspoon Tamarind paste or small lemon size tamarind ball
    • 1 cup Water (Boiling hot)
    • 3 cups Cooked rice
    • 1 tablespoon Oil
    • ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
    • 1 Dried red chilies
    • 4-5 Curry leaves
    • 2 tablespoons Peanuts
    • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 teaspoon Jaggery (Gur)
    • 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds toasted and coarsely ground for garnishing

    Instructions 

    • First, cook the rice and let it cool.
    • Dry roast the sesame seeds on medium heat till it get light brown. They will start to pop and you will get nice aroma of toasted seeds.
    • Remove it to the plate and let it cool completely.
    • Once cooled grind it coarsely and keep it aside.
    • If using tamarind paste then dissolve it into 1 cup of hot water.
    • Or if using tamarind then keep the tamarind in hot water for 15-20 minutes
    • then squeeze out all the pulp. If needed strain the pulp to remove the strings and seeds.
    • Take all the spices into a pan and turn the heat on medium.
    • Dry roast them with stirring constantly till they get light brown color.
    • Remove it to another plate and let it cool completely.
    • Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat.
    • Once hot add mustard seeds. Let them pop.
    • Then add dry red chili and curry leaves. Saute for a minute..
    • Add peanuts. and roast it till it gets light brown.
    • Then add tamarind water.
    • Add freshly ground spice powder, turmeric powder, jaggery and salt. Mix and let it simmer.
    • Cook till it thicken and become a paste like consistency.
    • Then add cooked rice. Mix gently till all the masala paste it coated to the rice evenly.
    • Cook for 2 minutes and turn off the stove.
    • Lastly garnish with sesame powder.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 86.9g | Protein: 10.4g | Fat: 14.5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 586mg | Potassium: 223mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 3.3g
    *Nutrition information is a rough estimate for 1 serving
    Did you make this recipe?Snap a pic, mention @spice.up.the.curry or tag #spiceupthecurry. I would love to see.

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    1. Tim

      May 05, 2021 at 6:04 am

      Gorgeous recipe. This was the first time I tried to be a little more adventurous with rice, and I really enjoyed the preparation process. I didn't add jaggery or peanuts, but stir fried in some roasted peppers at the end. Thanks for sharing.

      Regards5 stars

      Reply
      • Kanan Patel

        May 11, 2021 at 12:19 am

        Glad that you found the recipe helpful.

        Reply
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    Hi, I'm Kanan Patel. I share easy, delicious vegetarian recipes (mostly Indian) and Eggless baking recipes that you can sure count on!

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