Ingredients:

• 2 cups – long grained Rice (cook the Rice till soft and mushy)
• 1 cup – Toor Dal (cook the dal till soft and well cooked)
• 2 cups – mixed vegetables, cubed (carrots, beans, potatoes, peas)
• 1 cup – Tamarind juice (soak a lemon-sized ball of Tamarind in 1 cup of warm water for 20 minutes and extract the juice)
• 2 – onions, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp – oil
• 1 tbsp – Ghee
• 1 tbsp – grated Coconut
• salt to taste
• For masala:
• 1 tbsp – Ghee
• 1 tbsp – Coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp – Cumin seeds
• 5 – dry Red Chillies
• 1 tbsp – raw Rice
• 1/2 tsp – Urad Dal (black gram dal)
• 1/2 tsp – Channa dal (Bengal gram)
• 1 stick – Cinnamon
• 4 – Cloves
• 10 – Curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp – Mustard Seeds
• 1 tbsp – grated fresh Coconut (or desiccated Coconut)
• 1/4 tsp – Asafoetida

Method:

1. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a vessel and add all the spices – except asafoetida – and fry on low heat for 2 mins, while stirring constantly.
2. Add asafoetida just before you remove the spices off the heat.
3. Cool and make a coarse powder of the spices.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee in a vessel and fry the onions till transparent.
5. Add the vegetables, salt and a pinch of sugar. Cook them under steam till almost cooked.
6. Now add the cooked rice and dal, and mix well.
7. Add tamarind extract, 2 tsps of the ground masala powder, salt and grated coconut and mix thoroughly.
8. Let it sit, covered, for 40 to 45 minutes on low heat so that the masalas and flavours are well absorbed.
9. Add 3 cups of water and mix well and pressure cook for 3 minutes or one whistle.
10. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cover with a lid and cook on low flame.
11. Generally, the consistency of the rice is like a thick dosa batter.
12. Serve hot with melted ghee, papadam and pickle of your choice.

Recipe courtesy of Bhargavi