A traditional temple dish that is made with tamarind and rice. To get the real taste of this tamarind rice (Puliyodharai), you have to use only gingelly oil. You can use ground nut with skin or without skin. If you want crispy taste, instead of adding the groundnut while seasoning, you can add when mixing the rice. Instead of ground nut, you can add soaked whole gram (Kondai kadalai) along with the tamarind juice and cook.
Tamarind Rice (Puliyodharai)
10
servings10
minutes20
minutesDiscover the authentic flavors of tamarind rice (Puliyodharai), a traditional temple dish made with tamarind and rice. Learn the key ingredients and variations for a crispy and delicious experience.
Ingredients
Raw Rice – 2 cups
Tamarind – An Orange size
Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- To fry and grind:
Red chillies– 4
Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon
Bengal gram dhal – 1 tablespoon
Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Hard Asafoetida – Gooseberry size
- For seasoning:
Gingelly Oil – 6 to 7 tablespoons
Mustard – one teaspoon
Red chillies – 5 to 6
Bengal Gram Dhal – 1 tablespoon
Groundnut – 2 to 3 tablespoons
Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves – few
Salt – 1 teaspoon or as per taste
Directions
- Cooking the Rice
- Cook rice till soft (but not mushy). Put it in a plate or broad vessel and spread it. Sprinkle one or two teaspoon oil over it.
- Preparing Pulikaichal (Tamarind Base)
- Soak tamarind in water and squeeze out the juice. Break the red chillies into four or five pieces.
- In a kadai put a teaspoon of oil and fry the ingredients given under “To fry and Grind” (hard asafoetida, bengal gram dhal, coriander seeds,fenugreek seeds.and red chillies). Cool it and powder it.
- In another kadai put the oil and when it is hot add mustard. When it pops up, add Bengal gram dhal and fry till it turns light brown. Add ground nut, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a while. Add turmeric powder and stir well.
- Then add Tamarind juice along with salt and mix well. Close with a lid and let it boil on medium heat.
- Once it is boiled well, add the ground spice powder to the tamarind mixture. Mix well and cook till the oil floats on top. Remove it from stove. It look like tamarind paste and called “Pulikaichal”.
- Preparing Puliyodharai (Tamarind Rice)
- Add required Pulikaichal (Tamarind Paste) gradually to cooked rice and mix gently. When mixing you can add one or two teaspoon gingelly oil.
Recipe Video
Notes
- To get the real taste, you have to use only gingelly oil. You can use ground nut with skin or without skin. If you want crispy taste, instead of adding the groundnut while seasoning, you can add when mixing the rice. Instead of ground nut, you can add soaked whole gram (Kondai kadalai) along with the tamarind juice and cook.
- If you use solid Asafoetida (Katti Perungayam), you can fry along with other ingredients and powder it. If you use asafoetida powder, then add it in the seasoning.
- If you like, you can also add one or two teaspoons of til seeds (Ellu) along with the roasting ingredients and powder it.
- You can also add a teaspoon of black pepper along with the roasting ingredients and powder it.
- This paste can be stored for a month or so and can be used as and when required.