Friday, March 10, 2006

Tamarind Rice

Dear Husband of mine cooked this dish for me. :) Been craving for 'Amma kai Sapaadu' (Food prepared by loving mom) these day and he took it upon himself to re-create one of my favourite foods cooked by my mother. He followed the same recipe and I should say, it was almost like my mom's. Hers is not a typical pulihodhara recipe with ground powders, but a very simplified one. And Oh! It never gets spoiled atleast for a day or two, even without refrigeration, if prepared carefully with dry and clean hands (No wet spoons/lids too). It is a picnic food and the yummiest picnic food, I know of. Let me submit this for Anthony's Currymela.

PuliKaachal
Tamarind - lemon sized ball (soak in hot water for 1 hr and extract thick pulp
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Channa dal/kadalai paruppu - 1 tbsp
Garlic cloves - 4 (chopped lengthwise)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - 2 pinch
Salt to taste
Sesame oil - 1 tbsp (for pulikaachal) + 1 tbsp (for rice)
Heat oil and add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the channa dal and asafoetida. When the dal is roasted to light brown color, Add the red chillies, curry leaves and garlic cloves. Saute for a while, till these are slightly browned. Add the tamarind pulp and turmeric powder. Add salt and let it boil. Stir once in a while using a ladle. After a while, the oil will float on top and this is the time to know that the pulikaachal is almost ready. Test for salt and adjust accordingly. Let it boil for a while, if the tamarind still has that raw smell. This is Pulikaachal.
Prepare rice in a rice cooker and let it cool down. Add 1 tbsp of sesame oil to this and mix carefully with a wooden spoon. After the rice has cooled down, add the Pulikaachal to this, little by little, and mix with the wooden spoon. Serve with potato chips and curd (yogurt).
Note: The pulikaachal can be stored in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks and used when needed. You can add roasted peanuts too, if you like. Use unsalted ones.

16 comments:

Kitchenmate said...

Kay: Pulikaaichal...wow, been thinking of blogging about it for next week (i had you in my mind too, thought you might definitely want to taste it, at this time), but you did post one. Looks great and yummy:)

BDSN said...

Hi Kay..

Can I come over to taste your Pulikaachal...Its looks mouthwatering..

Mika said...

Yum! I am drooling, Kay. And btw, your pulikachal is new to me 'coz in my house they make it without the garlic. I am just using ready mixes now and I will have to try your recipe.

Priya said...

wow ! U r one lucky girl arent u, i have never made puliyodharai myself. I just use MTR's ready mix powder. Iam surely gonna try this. Thanx too u and ur husband for sharing this recipe.

Tanuja said...

Hi Kay ur so lucky:) ur Pulikaaichal looks so yummy, its different from my receipe i will surely try this this weekend:)

Sury said...

I have always had a taste for sour things, tamarind rice included. Now, thanks to you, I can make it myself. Photo looks great!

Anonymous said...

I love pulikaachal/puliodarai! my MIL made a few bottles of pulikaachal for me when she was visiting. I can eat it by the spoonful, even without rice!! my daughter loves it with "thair sadam". Oh, I've got to go eat some...

Shammi said...

Kay, pulikachal with garlic is a new one on me - will definitely try it soon :)

KA said...

Oh boy!! aren't you a lucky person.. a husband who cooks according to your cravings..
Looks yum!!

Ashwini said...

I looove the tamarind/ lemon/ coconut rice in South Indian cuisine. One q - whats the difference between pulikaachal and puliodarai?

Kay said...

Thanks Kitchenmate! How sweet of you! Btw, I tried your vellaipoondu, vengaya kulambu and it was awesome. I was blown by the taste! This dish will be often repeated at Kay's kitchen. will write about it soon.

Thanks BDSN, sure, come over.. I'll make some for you.

Thanks Mika, you can use it with garlic or not. My mother puts garlic in this, I don't know if others do. Ready mixes are fun and easy, but still don't beat the taste of made-from-scratch dishes. Do tell, how you liked it.

Thanks Priya and KrishnaArjuna!, I sure am! :) Maybe all preg. girls are... I've heard, this is the only time when hubbies do kitchen chores on their own and ever so willingly.

Thanks Tanu, Sury and Shammi, If you happen to try this, do tell me how it went.

Wow SF! You can eat it directly from bottle? Mine is very very sour if eaten that way. Need to mix in lot of rice to be edible. Can you ask your MIL if she'd share the recipe with us? please?

Ashwini, Pulihogare/Puliyodharai and Pulikaachal are similar. Both are Tamarind rice. The preparation is slightly different. The difference is the former has a coarse powder made with slow roasted dal, coriander, chillies and some more stuff + the tamarind paste. This is the one served in tempels as prasad. The later one is a simpler version (Pulikaachal = the paste prepared with tamarind pulp) No coarse powder here. This one lasts for quite sometime, than the first one.

Anonymous said...

Hey Kay...thanks for reminding me of my most fav dish...[ wondering how I forgot my own fav dish...me too ;-) ].
I was in India in Dec and got my mom to make it for me sooo many times...that it just slipped my mind after I got back...I definitely know what my dinner today is going to be..

n enjoy ur 'gonna-be-the-best-mom-soon' time :-)

Tanuja said...

Hei Kay I tried ur receipe this weekend it came out great yummy yummy :) I make pulihora its little different from urs. Thanks for ur receipe please do visit my blog sometime.

Anonymous said...

Kay, the Ingredients sound new...got to try this version soon.

reshma said...

India is a land where people do magic with humble rice;)

Kay said...

Thanks Courtney! Have you tried making it?

Thanks Priya, Moms are the best cooks in the world, aren't they?

Thanks Tanu! I'm so glad you liked it.. Yep, Pulihora is a bit different. I make that too, sometimes, based on my friend's recipe.. That tastes awesome too! :)

Thanks Lera, Try it.. It's really very simple.

Yes Reshma! While there are umpteen varieties of Rice dishes in South, many of my Marathi friends were so shocked to see these many varieties in my lunch box.. A friend said that I'm very innovative ;) (She was used to Biryani, Pulao, Rice+dal and dhahibhaat) I then, explained to her about the varieties of Rice dishes in South. she was amazed.. Like how I was when I knew it wasn't roti/paratha that North Indian ate...there are a million types of Indian breads..