TamarindRice/Pulihora

I know for most of Hindu Indians, March 29th was start of the New Year celebtrated as Ugadi and Gudi Padwa. Like every year and every festival I missed our family and India so much on this day. But we celebrated the festival enthusiastically(as much as we could muster on a weekday)  with pooja and Ugadi Pachadi. I made Tamarind rice(Pulihora), Urad dal Laddo(Sunnundalu) and Rice Paayasam(Sweet Pongali or Paravannam).

All of us in our family never get tired of Tamarind rice, even though it is made for almost every festival. If for some reason this is not there on a festival day, the festival itself seems incomplete. As usual I made this on Ugadi, Telugu New Year. Not only that, it also is a convenient dish to take as a lunch when you are travelling or sightseeing; reason being it does not need any accompaniment (side dish) and stays good without cold packs. Let’s begin.

Big lemon-sized tamarind, washed and soaked in water.

Curry leaves washed and dried. Green chillies washed, dried and slit lengthwise.

                  

Wash 3 cups of rice in a rice cooker, add 6 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric, 2tbsp of oil, salt and cook in a rice cooker.

Take tamarind pulp and run it through a sieve. Keep the pulp as thick as possible.

Take a pot; add 4 tbsp. of oil. Once oil is hot enough add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, jeera, and red chillies.

Fry for few minutes until it is brown. You can add green chillies along with these too.

Add tamarind and green chillies. Let this cook for about 10 minutes. If tamarind pulp is watery, it takes longer.

Switch off the stove. Transfer your rice from the rice cooker into this pot containing seasoning and mix well. Tamarind rice is ready!

Ingredients:

Rice                                        – 3 cups

Tamarind                             – Big lemon-sized tamarind

Green chillies                     – about 10, washed and slit

Turmeric                              – about 1 to 2 tsps

Salt                                         – as required

Oil                                           – as required

Seasoning :

Red chillies                                      -about 5, halved

Chana dal (Bengal gram dal)        – 2 tbsp

Urad dal (split black gram dal)     – 2 tsp

Rai (avalu, mustard seeds)           – 2 tsp

Jeera (jeelakarra, cumin)              – 1 tsp

Curry leaves                                   – few

Method:

• Wash and add 6 cups of water to the rice. Add 2 tbsp. of oil, turmeric, salt and cook the rice.
• Add about ½ a cup of water to soaked tamarind, mash it with fingers and run it through sieve. Now add another ½ cup of water and repeat the process. Keep this pulp aside.
• Heat a pan with 4 tbsp. of oil. Once oil is heated add seasoning items. Once seasoning turns brown add the tamarind pulp, green chillies and cook this mixture. It takes about 10 minutes for the mixture to thicken. If pulp is too watery, it takes longer. Switch off the stove.
• Transfer cooked and slightly cooled rice to this mixture and mix.
• Check for salt, add if required. Tamarind rice is ready!