Tamarind rice is a festive treat, without which any festival meal is incomplete in
South-India. It is served in temples as '
prasadam' or is served alone as complete, satisfying meal.
Andhra pulihora is little different to the
Tamil-puliyodarai, the puliyodarai is made by grinding spices which is then added to the
tamarind pulp. The
tamarind rice is simple and also tastes very good. In this
recipetamarind pulp is cooked and thickened with spices,
curry leaves and tempered with
channa dal, peanuts to add the crunchy nutty taste.
This spicy-sour rice tastes delicious and is usually accompanied by
wafers/vadiyalu/vadam, or alone. This is considered as the
Hindu festival food as it is given as Prasad in temples. During the festival of
Seetha Rama Kalyanam, tamarind rice is made in large scale and packed in covers and distributed to devotees.
The tamarind rice or
pulihora tastes sour, spicy hot and salty all at the same time. It is considered to be a good stimulant for a dead tongue and is easy and inexpensive to cook. A dish which is a wonderful stomach filler. In
southern India, the tamarind rice needs no introduction.
Tamarind’s sourness dominates this variety of rice and is neutralized just right enough with the fiery hotness of
green chillies, the wholesome crunch of fried
peanuts and the flavorful richness of curry leaves. The combination of all the ingredients not only makes
Pulihora a sumptuous deal for the stomach, but also a great feast for the eyes. In the state of
Karnataka, a slightly different version of
Pulihora is made. It is called
‘Puliyogare’ in
Kannada, they add a few extra ground spices or what one might call,
masalapowders.
The tamarind rice makes a great picnic meal and also preferred during to be taken during travel. To prepare this dish firstly wash and cook rice with little less water than usual. For 2 cups rice, use 3 1/2 cups of water. When the rice gets cooked, turn off the heat and remove the lid or spread it in a wide plate, so that it cools a bit and doesn't stick to each other while mixing the
tamarind base. Heat the
oil in the pan and add the whole
red chillies. let the chillies fry for few seconds then add the mustard seeds.
Once the
chillies are
fried they are no longer hot but get milder taste. When the mustard seeds splutters add the
fenugreek seedsand then add
channa dal and
peanuts and fry them properly on medium flame without burning them then add the
curry leaves,chopped green chillies and hing (asafetida). Add turmeric powder as this gives color to the color then add the
tamarind juice to it and add the dry spices like the
red chilli powder, coriander powder and
cumin powder.
Let the gravy cook till the oil oozes out for 10 to 12mins. While the
gravy is
cooking in absorbing the juices toast the sesame seeds and crush them and once the
gravy is ready add the sesame powder to it and cook it for another 15mins. Check the seasonings and add salt.
Then take your cooked rice and add the
tamarind gravy to it. Mix it thoroughly. You can also make this
gravy ahead of time and store it in the
refrigerator and mix it with cooked rice whenever you want. Adjust the
tamarind, spice and
salt levels according to your
taste.
vahuser Posted on Thu Feb 03 2011
I LOVED IT , TURNED OUT GREAT AND EASY TO MAKE, I HAVE BECAME VEGETARIAN RECENTLY WAS LOOKING FOR A RECIPE SOY BASED CURRY, I HAD A SOY BUTTER CHICKEN IN ONE OF CANADIAN FINE RESTAURANT , COULDN'T FIND ANY IN YOUR WEB
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