Pulihora - Tamarind Rice

An Andhra preparation of the tamarind rice, that my friend prepares so well and she has so graciously shown me, step by step how she prepares this rice.

Ingredients

3 cups - Raw rice ( Use : Sona Masuri, Basmati or Long grain rice )

Seasoning

2 tbsp - Mustard seeds

1/4 cup - Urad dal

1/4 cup - Chana dal

1/4 cup - Peanuts

6 to 8 - Whole dried red chili

1 tsp - Turmeric powder

1 big yellow lemon size - Tamarind

1/4 to 1/2 tsp - Hing

2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

1 cup - Oil

Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In the first step, cook the rice and then spread out in a big plate to cool a bit.

2 ) Second step is to Season. Heat oil in a pan and fry the whole red chillies. Take it off the oil and set aside. Then add chana dal, peanuts, urad dal and fry on medium low heat. Then add mustard and after mustard pops, add curry leaves, hing and take off the stove.

3 ) Thirdly, pour the seasoning onto the cooked rice.
Then to make the tamarind paste, extract thick tamarind paste from the tamarind by adding little by little water and squeezing out a thick tamarind juice. Now cook the extracted juice till it thickens to a semi-thick concentrated paste. Add salt to taste when cooking the tamarind juice.

4 ) Add the cooked tamarind paste to the cooked rice. Now mix the rice well with the seasoning and the tamarind paste. Mix thoroughly and then serve.


Variations to this recipe

1. If you like mustard flavor, you can add a little mustard paste to the rice and mix well. Take 1 tsp mustard seeds and make a paste with little water. Crush with a mortar and a pestle.
   
2. Sesame seeds can be dry roasted and powdered. Add the powder to the rice and mix well.

Now if you want to make this rice with ready made Puliogare powder -

1) Follow the first step to cook the rice.

2 ) Then follow the second step to season. At the end of the seasoning, add 3 to 4 tbsp of ready made puliogare powder into the oil, before taking off the stove.

3 ) Pour the seasoning onto the cooked rice and mix thoroughly. If you need more sour and tangy taste, add 2 to 3 tbsp of lemon juice to the rice and mix.

JFI for the month of Sept, is hosted by the lovely sharmi of Neivedyam, who has a array of mouth water recipes to feast on. Rice is the chosen ingredient and i am sending in Pulihora as my entry for this event.