Feb 2, 2020
Chinthapandu Pulihora ~ Tamarind Rice
Chinthapandu Pulihora is the original and authentic version of Pulihora. Pulihora is a rice dish that is made with tamarind and jaggery, used as popular prasadam in temples. Due to sourness of tamarind, this remains fresh and lasts for two days at room temperature. That is the reason you see many, South Indian travelers carry this tamarind rices at the time fo long journeys (in trains). :-)
These days there are several variations of Pulihora available made with Lime, Mango, Pummelo etc where the sourness in this dish is achieved by sour fruits, but till today the Chinthapandu (Tamarind) Pulihora remains special on any festive day. As I have made this few times that took 'Hot Seat' at festival potlucks, but never penned the recipe. Every time i have to make it, had to juggle for the exact measurements, hence today took time to publish this recipe on my blog for my own reference in future. Hope this comes handy for you too! Here is the recipe, Njoy!
Tamarind Rice ~ Chinthapandu Pulihora |
Ingredients:
Rice - 4 Cups
Tamarind - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/4 cup ( or 2 Tbsp Powdered Jaggery)
Green Chili - 6
Salt - 3 Tbsp ( per your taste)
Turmeric Powder - 1 Tbsp
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Tempering:
Oil - 1/4 cup
Red Chili - 6 Whole
Green Chili - 4 Whole
Chana Dal - 3 Tbsp
Urad Dal - 2 Tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 Tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 Tbsp
Curry Leaves - 5 stems ( 15 to 20 leaves)
Method:
Tamarind Paste Preparation: Add 1 cup hot water to medium bowl and add tamarind in it, let it sit for 30 min. After 30 min, mix tamarind with water and squeeze the tamarind paste and remove the pulp and any tamarind seeds. Boil this tamarind paste until it comes together and becomes thick consistency (10 to 15 min). While it is boiling, Add Salt, Jaggery and turmeric powder and let it come for 1 boil. Remove stems from Green Chili, make slits and add these to Tamarind paste. Let it simmer and with everything, make sure Jaggery is completely melted and mixed with tamarind paste. Switch off the stove and let it cool, by keeping it aside
Rice Preparation: Wash Rice thoroughly, cook in rice cooker. Add 7 to 8 cups of water for 4 cups of rice, and set in rice cooker. Add 1 Tbsp of Oil to the water. Oil helps the rice grains to be separated once it cooked. Once Rice done cooking in rice cooker, switch off and transfer rice to wide plate and allowing it to cool.
Roast Peanuts in saute pan, until skin starts separating ( until 5 min), keep them side.
Mixing: Now once tamarind paste cools off, rice also cools off, start adding the Tamarind paste to Rice and mix it evenly. Keep adding paste in small quantities until it all applies well to the rice. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Tempering:Heat Oil in Kadai. Once it is hot, add Red Chili Whole, followed by Chana Dal, Urad Dal, Green Chilis. Let the lentils come to golden color, Add roasted peanuts to kadai. Now add Mustard seeds. As they start spluttering, add crushed frenugreek powder ( make it fresh in mortar). Now Add Turmeric Powder, Asfotedia and followed by Curry leaves. Switch off the stove, let tempering get simmered and settled.
Once Tempering is cooled off, add the tempering to Tamarind Rice mix thoroughly, folding from top to bottom, that allows the tempering to be evenly applied to all the rice. Close the lid and let it marinade for 2 to 3 hours, before serving. Usually it is better to make this in the afternoon if you need to serve in the Evening.
Tips:
- Fenugreek Seeds are secret star in this recipe it gives that temple style flavor. Make sure you take fresh seeds and crush it roughly in mortar before adding it to tempering.
- If you are allergic to Peanuts, you can totally skip it. No Worries.
- Some times based on Tamarind, sourness differs for the same measurement. Always make sure to add in small quantities while mixing in rice. DO NOT add all the tamarind paste at once.
- Salt may requires based on the sourness of tamarind, taste and adjust as needed. But make sure to make any slat adjustments to rice before adding tempering. Once you add tempering, the addition of salt won't gel well with the rice.
More Pulihora Recipes:
Will be back with another traditional recipe,
Until then Take Care, Ba Bye!
-Mythreyi
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We Tamil iyengars boast that we make the best Puliyodara.But your Chinthapandu Pulihora is equally great and identical in preparation and looks yummy.This is my favourite dish best made at home and it goes well with chips,fried appalams or vadam(made of rice)
ReplyDelete:-) Thank you for your compliment! Agree this one is comfort dish at anytime!
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