Puliyodharai / Tamarind Rice

Ingredients
One (big) lemon sized Tamarind
Onion-1
Garlic- 1 bulb(roughly 12 cloves)
Round Red chillies-15
(adjust to your spice level &variety of the chilly.Can decrease the number if using long red chillies)
Methi seeds-1teaspoon
Curry leaves-2 springs
Mustard seeds-11/2teaspoons
Cnanna dhal-1tablespoon
Urad dhal-1tablespoon
Roasted peanuts-1 fistful
Turmeric powder-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-11/2teaspoons
Salt-2teaspoons
Oil-1/4cup
*Cooked rice-5cups

Method
Cook the rice well in advance.
Soak the tamarind in 3 cups of water for an hour, extract the juice and keep aside.
Roast the methi seeds on low heat till you get a nice aroma. Cool them and grind it to a fine powder.
Chop the onions and garlic. Break the red chillies.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop-up. Then add channa dhal-urad dhal and peanuts. Fry them till they turn golden colour.

Add the onions-garlic-redchillies-curry leaves, turmeric powder. Sauté them till the onions become transparent.

Add the tamarind juice, enough salt.

Let it boil nicely.
Cook the tamarind mix well till it oozes out oil. Finally add the methi seed powder & sugar,mix it well and switch-off the stove.
Puliyodharai mix is ready once its cooled completely. You can store it in a clean airtight container and store it for week in room temperature,can refrigerate it for 2-3 weeks.[if planning for a long term use, avoid the onions. I always make this for the trips and finish it off in one time.]
Mix the rice and puliyodharai mix.
This will be a perfect lunch for picnics and trips. You can keep it for 2 days. *I cooked 21/2 cups of Basmathi rice. The tamarind mix in the last but one photo was enough for that quantity.

This rice tastes divine with raw coconut(yes, raw coconut pieces - தேங்காய்த் துண்டுகள் :) ) or with paruppu chutney/coriander chutney/mint chutney. The chutnies should be thick and preferably made with roasted coconut(if using). Even any chips will be enough with this rice.