"Sometimes life is not about what you want to do,but what you ought to do."
I read that quote today in Facebook ,quoted none other than by Chetan Bhagat,the well known Indian author and his novels are being converted to Bollywood movies lately like 3 idiots,Kai po che and now releasing soon"2states" which is in fact inspired by his own personal life -he being a Punjabi and his wife being a South Indian....well,can't wait to watch ...whoaaa!!...again I got distracted as nowadays I am....
So,boomeranging to that quote ,it's so true and that quote today gave me a wake up call,zor ka jhatka dheere se....coz what I want to do as of now is to just chill and take it easy but "What I ought to do" is to bounce back to my virtual life and literally give life back to my wonder baby bloggy which is really in a wonder mode
..what the hell happened to my virtuall maama :D....well,maama was taking rest and mished you sho much bloggu baby ...and Maama is here now yuhuuu :PToday I am gonna post my favorite rice recipe,thoda khatta,thoda chatpatta,tangy and tasty....with my favorite ingredient,Tamarind the great/imli in hindi,puli in Malayalam...I've no idea why I love Tamarind so much....if I would have told this to my Indian friend now,they would have asked me ,"Ohoooo Any good news sweety ??"
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I wonder when I'll say Yes,yEs,yeS.....but alas..not yet...sighhh....that's the way it is..but then "Good things take time to happen".
Anyways,I love Tamarind since my childhood days..playing with my childhood friends"Ghar ghar" where our all preparations used to be made with Tamarind ,water,sugar..and no wonder why my mother always used to find ways and means to hide those tamarinds at home but to no avail
.Now whenever she would use Tamarind she tells me that all those memories rekindles before her eyes and she misses me a lot...ohh my shweet poor momma ...just kidding I miss my mom everyday too...Sighhh!!!
After marriage it's my hubby who is facing the curse I carry (they say ,I don't)..Everytime we go to the restaurants and if we order any food with tamarind sauce aside,he would be watching me with wonder ,"Why am I emptying the tamarind sauce as if it was the most tastiest dessert they made in disguise?" ...He would be like "People will think you are eating after a long time and I am not buying and giving you anything ..seriously??"...However I am like..Whatttt..did you say anything hon ??
The way I was crazy about this Tamarind made my mother suspicious as if I had some kind of vitamin deficiency or she was acting up to emotionally blackmail me ....not sure of that....but I did a little 007 on that I was amazed to know how healthy Tamarind is infact - It is full of antioxidants that fight against brutal disease like Cancer,promotes healthy heart,lowers cholesterol,heals inflammation,reduces fever and cold,acts like a mild laxative ..inshort ,tamarind is a rich source of vitamins, fiber, potassium, magnesium and other nutrients necessary for good health. (Mom this is for ya darling)
I am so glad to know that..now who can stop me from enjoying Tamarinds
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I was more happy to know that there is something called Tamarind rice ,which happens to be a famous Andhra cuisine from my Hubby's place...and his favourite too and my favoritest (new word :O) )....
Tamarind Rice
Ingredients
Basmati rice,cooked - 3 cup
Tamarind juice - 1 - 1 & 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Jaggery powder - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
Fenugreek - 1 teaspoon
Chana dal - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry red chilli - 1-2 broken piece
Ginger ,chopped - 1 teaspoon
Ginger ,chopped - 1 teaspoon
Peanuts - 2 tablespoons
Coconut powder - 2 tablespoons (optional)
Sesame seeds,roasted & crushed lightly- 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves - a stalk
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Method:
- Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds,followed by chana dal,fenugreek,dry red chili,asafoetida and curry leaves.
- Add peanuts ,roast it until done or microwave peanuts in microwave for a minute and add to the above pan.
- Add chopped ginger,turmeric powder,chilli powder,coriander powder,cumin powder,jaggery ,sesame seeds and coconut powder to it.Saute for a minute on low heat.
- Add the Tamarind juice to it and allow it to boil and let it simmer on low flame until it becomes a thick gravy and oil oozing on the top.
- Add the cooked rice into it, mix everything well and cook until all water evaporates on medium flame and everything gets mixed well with rice.
- Serve hot with raita ,pickle and pappads.
- While preparing rice,add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and salt in it to get a good yellowish color and rice should be separate and not mushy..basmati rice is preferred and if it is leftover rice that's even better.
- For extracting tamarind pulp/juice- Soak a lemon size tamarind in about 1-1 /2 cup of warm water for 30 minutes and then squeeze and extract the pulp .
- This rice tastes better the next day.
