South indian cuisine has quite a lot of flavored rice recipes made with dry powdered spices, curry leaves and a sour agent (tamarind or tomato or lemon). Tamarind rice is a popular recipe and it has a few variations. Some recipes mix the cooked rice with tamarind paste and stir fry (I make this version), the other recipes cook the rice in tamarind and spices flavored water. Tamarind rice is a beautiful combination of rice flavored with fresh ground spices. I add fleshy sweet zucchini and shrimp to make it a meal perfect for summer dinners. This recipe is an inspiration from traditional south indian tamarind rice. While its not authentic, my family loves it. If you do not want to use tamarind, use lemon juice or tomato puree instead. It all works great if the spice powder is done right. This is a good recipe for summer evenings when we all need a quick and satisfying meal. The best thing is that these rice can be eaten room temperature making them great for lunchboxes. A few things to be kept in mind :-
Cook the rice a few hours or a night before. Cold rice won’t break when you mix it with the spices and stir fry. Try to grind the spices fresh for a better taste or max 1-2 days ahead and store in an air tight container.I use thick tamarind pulp, dont use watery tamarind else the rice will turn wet. Add any vegetables that you like- peas, yellow squash and spinach go well.
