Puliyodharai

Puliyodharai is one of the famous prasadam recipe given in Hindu Temples. As a kid, my mom takes me daily to Vishnu temple in tamil month Margazhi. I love to hear my mom reciting thirupaavai in that early breeze and sometimes I join with her singing. One of my favourite prasadam from temple is this Tamarind Rice. It tastes divine. Puliyotharai is a hot spicy sour rice. This rice stays good for 2 days and my mom prepares this tamarind rice during our long trips. I love to have puliyotharai with coconut chutney. Please check below for step by step instructions for preparing South Indian Puliyodharai. 

Preparation Time:     10 mins

Cook Time :                30 mins

Ready in :                   40 mins
Yields :                        3 Servings 

Ingredients:
Table 1:

Gingelly Oil	2 tbsp
Tamarind	Big lemon size
Cooked Rice	3 cups
Roasted Peanuts	1/4 Cup
Red Chilly	1
Curry leaves	5
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Powdered Jaggery	2 tbsp
Salt

Table 2:
To Dry Roast and Grind:

Channa Dal	1 tsp
Urad Dal	1 tsp
Black pepper corns	1 tsp
Red chilly	2
Sesame seeds	1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds	1/2 tsp

Instructions:

• Dry roast channa dal, urad dal, sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds, black pepper corn and red chilli. Allow it to cool and grind it to a fine powder.Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes. Squeeze the seeds and fibre to get the tamarind juice. 

• Heat Oil in the pan and add mustard. When they splutter, add curry leaves and red chilly. After a min, add the grind-ed powder.

• Add roasted peanuts and turmeric powder, followed by  tamarind juice. Allow it to boil. 

• Add jaggery and salt. Allow the gravy to thicken. This gravy is called pulikachal. Pulikachal, once cooled can be stored in air tight container for about a week. Mix this pulikachal with rice and salt whenever needed

•  Add rice. Adjust salt to your taste.

Tips:

• Adjust pepper and red chilly to your taste.
• Adding Jaggery is optional. It increases the tangy taste of the recipe. It can be replaced by sugar.
• Authentic South Indian tamarind recipes uses gingelly Oil. 
• Adding roasted peanuts is optional
• Roasted cashewnuts also can be added
• Prepare pulikachal in medium flame. 
• For tamarind rice with shallots and garlic, click here