Until ground fine. Mix them together and store them in a plastic container. They keep well and are handy while making the rice. Use this powder carefully. Too much of it will give a bitter taste to the dish.

Note:

You can alternativly grind only little of these (seperately, of course) at the time of making the rice and add it towards the end since the aroma that this imparts to the dish is mind blowing. But take care, esp. with fenugreek seeds powder since it can give a bitter taste if added even a little bit in excess. I followed this method and grind it only as and when needed! I don't make this that often to require making a large amount or storage.

Now lets make the paste. Take a skillet and add the oil. Add the red chillies, then mustard seeds and then bengal gram.

Note:

I had some oil warming on the side hence added just a little to temper and then added the oil in the next step. It was simply for my own convinience and is not done this way. I am saying it since I wanted to explain the obvious lack of lots of oil in this picture :)

remove from heat, cool it well and store it in a glass container. Keeps very well for a loooong (!!) time and requires only a wee little bit (depending upon your taste) at a time to be mixed in the rice.

Note

The more solid the Tamarind paste , lesser is the amount required to be mixed. If you make sure to keep the paste within the oil, then it would last longer. If your mixture is dry, then it naturally reduces its shelf life. Use it sooner in that case.To prepare the rice, in 1 tsp of oil, temper the lentils, along with red chillies and curry leaves (or you can use fresh without tempering in oil) and then add in the peanuts and cashew (you can roast them seperately too).