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,

Chettinad Chicken Gravy |Chettinad Chicken Kuzhambu| Chicken Chettinad curry

These days i am trying variety of chicken dishes.so after kodi kura,green chicken gravy & chicken vindaloo ,my next recipe was chettinad chicken curry.

You’ll find this listed in almost every South Indian restaurant menu .

The chicken is cooked with some distinct ingredients such as poppy seeds , fennel seeds, coriander seeds that give it a peculiar taste.

Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The Chettiar community, who are a majority in this region, are a very successful trading community. Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and the most aromatic in India.

Chettinad cuisine is famous for its use of a variety of spices used in preparing mainly non-vegetarian food. The dishes are hot and pungent with fresh ground masalas, and topped with a boiled egg that is usually considered essential part of a meal. They also use a variety of sun dried meats and salted vegetables, reflecting the dry environment of the region. The meat is restricted to fish, prawn, lobster, crab, chicken and lamb. Chettiars do not eat beef and pork.

Spices used

In Chettinad food, the most important spices are maratti mokku (dried flower pods), anasipoo (star aniseed) and kalpasi (a lichen known as the "black stone flower", also known as dagad phool). In addition, tamarind, whole red chillies, and sombu (fennel seed) are also used along with pattai (cinnamon), lavangam (cloves), bay leaf, karu miLagu (peppercorn), jeeragam (cumin seeds), and venthayam (also called mendhiyam) (fenugreek).

Chettinad cuisine offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Some of the popular vegetarian dishes include idiyappam, paniyaram, vellai paniyaram, karuppatti paniyaram, paal paniyaram, kuzhi paniyaram, kozhakattai, masala paniyaram, adikoozh, kandharappam, seeyam, masala seeyam, kavuni arisi & athirasam.

 I Am sure everyone at home will definitely love this delicious curry.

 

Ingredients:
500 gms chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
 1 cup onions
 1 cup chopped tomatoes
 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
 10-12 curry leaves
 1 cup coconut milk
 fresh coriander leaves for garnish
 salt to taste
2 tbsp ginger garlic chilli paste
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp red chilli powder

Garam masala to grind:
 1 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp pepper corns
 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
 3/4 tsp fennel seeds
 1 1/2 tbsps coriander seeds
 6-8 dry red chillies
 2 cardamoms
 1 inch cinnamon
 6-7 curry leaves

 


Method:

1 Dry  roast the ingredients above under "garam masala to grind"  on medium heat stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from fire, cool and grind to a powder.



2. Heat oil in a kadhai ,add the small onions,ginger garlic chilli paste  and curry leaves and saute till transparent.

3. Add the ground masala  powder in step 1,red chilli powder and cook for a minute before adding the chicken and cook on high heat for approx 4 mts and do stir the chicken once in a while.



4.Reduce to medium heat, add salt, turmeric powder and tomatoes and combine well. Let the chicken cook in this for 4-5 minutes, uncovered.

5. Now add the coconut milk . cover with  lid & cook  till chicken is done .


6.  Turn off heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
 8 Serve hot with white steamed rice, biryani, chapatis or dosas