Tamarind Rice ( South Indian Recipes ) with step by step photos
South-Indian rice-
Tamarind rice or popularly known as puliyodharai, puliyogare, pulihora, puli sadam is a famous South-Indian tangy, spicy rice preparation. Puli” refers to Tamarind in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. It can be made with two methods, first, in which the rice is cooked and tossed in tamarind sauce, the other method is to cook raw rice in pulikacha (tamarind sauce). Apart from that, you can make other South-Indian rice recipes like :
For cooking the rice-
To begin making the tamarind rice, you can either pressure cook the rice or cook them on a stovetop. I will be cooking them directly on a stovetop as it gives you control over the cooking time. Wash around ¾ cup of rice thoroughly. You can use any variety of rice but, short-grained rice like sona masuri, surti kolam is preferable.
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Soak in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Cover with a lid and keep aside.
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Drain the rice with the help of a strainer.
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Boil a vessel full of water, add 1 tbsp of oil.
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Add salt.
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Add the rice to the boiling water.
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Cook till the rice is al dente, stirring once or twice in between. The rice grain must be fully cooked yet firm.
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Pour into a colander and let the water drain out.
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Spread the cooked rice on a plate to cool and excess moisture to dry out.
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Cover with another place so the top layer of rice does not dry out while they are cooling.
Preparing masala for tamarind rice-
To make puliyodharai masala for tamarind rice | South Indian style tamarind rice | pulihora rice | puliyogare rice | chitrannam rice | in a small pan, add chana dal.
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Add urad dal.
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Add coriander seeds.
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Add 3 to 4 whole dry Kashmiri red chilies.
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Add 2 tsp sesame seeds.
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Mix well and dry roast on a slow flame for 5 minutes.
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Roast till they turn golden brown in colour and aromatic. Do stir continuously for even browning.
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Remove from the flame and keep aside to cool.
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Once cool, transfer to a mixer jar.
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Blend in a mixer to a fine powder. Keep aside. If you make tamarind rice on a regular basis then prepare a large quantity of this spice powder and store it and use as required.
How to make tamarind rice-
To prepare tamarind rice | South Indian style tamarind rice | pulihora rice | puliyogare rice | chitrannam rice | heat the oil in a broad non-stick pan. For an authentic flavour, make use of sesame oil instead of regular cooking oil.
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Once the oil is hot, add the peanuts. They provide a nice crunch to puli sadam.
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Sauté on a slow flame for 4 to 5 minutes or till they turn light pink in colour while stirring continuously.
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Add chana dal.
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Addd the mustard seeds.
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Add urad dal.
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Add the red chillies.
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Add curry leaves.
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Add asafoetida.
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Add the turmeric powder.
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Mix well and sauté on a medium flame for a minute, while stirring continuously or until the lentils turn golden brown in colour.
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Add the tamarind pulp.
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Mix well and cook on a medium flame for 2 minutes or till the mixture thickens.
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Add 2 tbsp of prepared masala. Freshly ground spice mix gives a nice flavour to the tamarind rice.
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Add rice.
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Add salt. Be careful as we have already added salt while boiling rice.
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Cook on amedium flame for 1 to 2 minutes. Our tamarind rice | South Indian style tamarind rice | pulihora rice | puliyogare rice | chitrannam rice | is ready.
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Remove in a serving bowl and enjoy pulihora hot. You can even pack tamarind rice for lunch or while travelling.