Just as the festival of Makar Sankranti is celebrated in North India, Pongal is celebrated with great enthusiasm in South India. This festival is celebrated with great pomp in South India. It is considered to be the first biggest festival of the year. Preparation for this day starts many days in advance. People decorate their houses beautifully at this festival. The festival of Pongal is celebrated for four days in various states of South India including Tamil Nadu.

Like every year, this year the Pongal festival is starting from 15 January 2024 and will end on 18 January. It is believed that the Tamil New Year begins on the day of Pongal. Due to this, on this day people prepare many types of dishes in the traditional way. If you are also thinking of making something traditional this time, then tamarind rice is a better option for you. Today we are going to tell you the easy way to make it.

Ingredients for making tamarind rice
1 cup rice, ¼ tsp salt, 2 tsp water, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 4 dry red chilies, 2 tsp coriander seeds, 2 tsp chana dal, 2 tsp urad dal, ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds, ¼ tsp whole black pepper
½ tsp sesame seeds, ¼ tsp asafoetida, 50 grams tamarind, 2 cups hot water, 3 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, 10-12 curry leaves, 2 to 3 dry red chilies, 2 tsp jaggery powder

Method
If you are thinking of making tamarind rice, then first wash the rice and keep it to cook. You have to cook it for 3-4 whistles. When the rice is cooked, take it out and keep it in a separate vessel. After this, add tamarind and hot water in a bowl and soak it for about an hour.
When it gets soaked well, squeeze the tamarind and remove its pulp. After this, start the process of preparing rice. For this, first of all, put all the spices in a pan and fry them while mixing them well. When it gets roasted golden, after it cools down, grind all the spices.
Now finally, heat sesame oil in a pan and then add mustard seeds and urad dal. Along with this, add gram dal and peanuts and fry them. Now add dry red chili, turmeric powder, and curry leaves.
After this, filter the tamarind pulp and add it directly to the tempering mixture. Along with this, add salt and jaggery powder and cook on medium flame. Now lastly add cooked rice to it and mix it well. Just tamarind rice is ready. Now you can serve it.
​(PC: Instagram)