Puliyodharai or Pulihora recipe| Tamil style tamarind rice

A popular neivedhyam aka Prasadam offered in South Indian temples is Puliyodharai/Pulihora. Each temple has its own signature prasadam .

I tasted this amazingly flavourful puliyogare rice while my stay in hyderabad in the form of prasad in one of the ayappa temples. Immediately I tried this recipe first using MTR puliyogare ready mix & next preparing powder at home ...

Todays recipe is Tamil style puliyogare powder from scratch at home .i adapted this recipe from sailus kitchen....Before proceeding to the recipe , some information regarding puliharo or puliyogare

Puliyodharai(Tamil:புளியோதரை) or Puliyogare (Kannada:ಪುಳಿಯೋಗರೆ) or tamarind rice is a South Indian rice preparation typically eaten as a snack, as part of most south Indian festival luncheons and dinners, and as prasadam in temples. Puliyodharai is also known as huḷianna ("sour rice" in Modern Kannada) in some parts of Karnataka, and puḷihora ("sour rice" in Telugu) in Andhra Pradesh.

Each home has their own variation of the popular Tamil style Puliyodharai mix which is a combination of spices that include coriander seeds, chana dal, fenugreek seeds and red chilies that are roasted and ground to a fine powder. It is this magic concoction along with a blend of tempered spices, tamarind paste, jaggery and roasted peanuts that gives this Tamil style tamarind rice its distinct taste.

The tamarind paste is the essence of how a Puliyogare is created. Tamarind is soaked in water to extract the juice and then boiled

Puliyodharai is commonly prepared during festivals such as Ganesha Chaturthi and Diwali.

Ingredients
Raw rice - 2 cups (cook such that  every rice grain is separate, spread to cool)
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp (haldi/pasupu)
Tamarind - large lemon size/golf size ball (soak in 1/2 cup of hot water and extract pulp)
Jaggery - 1/2 tbsp
Roasted peanuts - 2 fistfuls (approx 1/3 cup)
Salt to taste

For tempering/phodni /tadka:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tbsp (split bengal gram)
Urad dal - 1 tbsp (split black gram)
Dry red chilli - 2, tear and de-seed
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp (hing)
Gingelly oil - 3 tbsps
Puliyogare Powder Mix:
Coriander seeds - 2 1/2 tbsps
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tbsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
White sesame seeds - 1 1/2 tbsps (til)
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs (15-18 leaves)
Black pepper corns - 1/2 tbsp (for a spicer flavor use 1 tbsp)
Dry red chilis - 4-5

Method

1. cook the rice with 4 cups of water and 1 tsp oil so that each grain is separate. Mean while lets prepare the puliyogare mix powder

2. In a heavy bottomed vessel, dry roast all the ingredients called for 'Puliyogare mix powder'. Dry roast on low to medium flame for 14-15 mts. Do not burn the spices. Cool and grind to a powder. Keep aside.

3. Spread the cooked rice on a wide plate to cool. Once cool, sprinkle salt to taste, a tbsp of oil and few fresh curry leaves over the cooled rice and keep aside.

4. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a cooking vessel, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the channa dal and urad dal and fry till the dals turn red. Next add red chilis, asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.

5. Add the tamarind extract and jaggery and cook till the raw smell of tamarind disappears, approx 9-11 mts on low to med flame. Do mix the contents constantly while its cooking. The oil should separate and it will appear a like a thick but flowing paste. Remove from heat.

   
   

6. Add three fourth of the cooked tamarind mixtureto the rice and combine well such that its mixed well with the rice. Adjust salt. Finally sprinkle two heaped tablespoons of the roasted puliyodharai mix and the roasted peanuts and mix well. Taste the rice at this stage and if you feel that the rice needs to be more tangy, add the remaining one fourth tamarind mixture and mix well.

7. Let it rest for at least an hour for the flavors to be absorbed before serving.

Tips

• Add 2 1/2 tbsps of the roasted puliyodharai powder for spicier rice

• You can reduce dry red chilis in the Puliyodharai mix ingredients.

• Store the left over Puliyodharai powder in an air tight container for later use.

• The color of the puliyodharai depends on the color of the tamarind used. Dark tamarind will give a dark colored rice and is recommended.

• Use sonamasuri rice preferably instead of basmati rice,