South Indian Curry Leaf Rice

From the garden

• 8 sprigs fresh curry leaf sprigs, leaves stripped from the stems · about 2 packed cups of leaves; most go into the podi, a loose handful into the tempering
• ⅓ cup raw shelled peanuts · cured and dried; skins on or off
• 3 dried red chiles, broken in half, most seeds shaken out

From the pantry

• 4 cups cooked long-grain rice, cooled and separated · from about 1 1/3 cups raw; day-old rice folds best
• 3 tbsp split urad dal, or brown lentils, picked over
• 3 tbsp sesame oil · the plain gingelly kind rather than the dark toasted one
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• 1 lemon · juice only, added off the heat
• 1 tsp black peppercorns · whole, for the podi
• salt · to taste

1. Spread the cooked rice on a wide tray to cool so the grains stay separate, and strip the leaves from the sprigs, setting a loose handful aside for the tempering.
2. Dry-roast the urad dal in a heavy pan over medium-low heat, shaking often, until it turns golden and smells nutty, about 4 minutes. Add the chiles and peppercorns for a minute more, then tip everything onto a plate to cool.
3. Roast the larger share of curry leaves in the same dry pan over low heat, tossing, 3–4 minutes, until they go brittle and shatter between the fingers. Stop while they are still green, since browned leaves taste of hay and the crispness is what makes the podi.
4. Grind the cooled dal, chiles, peppercorns and leaves to a coarse sandy powder with a good pinch of salt. Stopping short of a paste keeps the podi loose enough to fold through rice.
5. Heat the sesame oil in a wide pan over medium, pop the mustard seed, then fry the peanuts 2 minutes until they color. Add the reserved fresh leaves and stand back, because they crackle hard for a few seconds and that is the aroma going into the fat.
6. Tip in the rice, scatter the podi over it, and fold with a light hand over low heat 2 minutes until every grain is coated. Finish off the heat with the lemon juice and salt to taste, and serve warm with something crisp alongside.