Puliogare \ Puliodarai \ Tamarind Rice is one of the traditional south Indian rice variety which is made during special festivals or occasions. Every tamarind rice variety in South India is unique in its own way. In Andhra style puliogare, its flavoured with either roasted sesame seeds powder or mustard seeds powder which makes the rice so... delicious and special. Generally, the leftover tamarind rice tastes very yummy on the second day as the rice would set perfectly with the tamarind extract and spices. So, I don't remember having an excess tamarind rice or wasted tamarind rice in our house. Everything will get over.!!!!
Ingredients
Sona Masoori Rice - 2 Cups
Thick Tamarind Extract - 3-4 Cups
Salt - To Taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Gingelly Oil - 1 tbsp
Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Mustard Powder - 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chillies - 5
Green Chillies - 4 or 5
Ginger - 1.5 tbsp ( cut into small pieces or shredded )
Urad Dal /Minna Pappu/Ulutham Paruppu - 4 tsp
Channa Dal/Senaga Pappu/Kadalai Paruppu - 4 tsp
Ground nuts / Peanuts - 3 tbsp
Curry Leaves - 3 stems
Jaggery - 1 small piece
Method
Tamarind Paste :
Soak a ball of raw tamarind in warm water for about 20 - 30 minutes. Then, make a thick tamarind extract out of that. Also, extract all the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and keep it aside. In a small round frying pan, add 1 tbsp of oil and little gingelly oil, hing, little Jaggery and the extracted tamarind extract totally into it. Allow them to boil and cook for 15-20 minutes till you get the thick tamarind paste. You might notice oil oozing out of the sides considerably which denotes that the extracting process is done.
Cook Sona Masoori Rice:
Cook the Sona Masoori Rice and transfer them into a big tray or big round vessel where you are going to make the tamarind rice. Just drop 2 tsp of oil on top of the rice and keep it open.
Mustard Powder:
Roast the Mustard seeds in a frying pan for few seconds and then grind them into a fine powder. Keep the Mustard powder also ready.
Tempering / Tadka :
In a frying pan, add remaining oil. When it gets heated, add Hing, Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds first. When it sputters, add the groundnuts / peanuts into the pan and fry them for a minute. Then, add the channa dal, urad dal, dry red chilli, curry leaves, green chillies, crushed ginger into the oil and fry them till they all get roasted considerably but not black or dark brown. Add turmeric powder into it and switch off the flame.
Mixing Process:
Transfer the contents from the tadka pan on top of the rice spread on the tray / vessel. Mix them once with a flat big spoon. Add the tamarind extract slowly and keep mixing it with the rice. Add required amount of salt, gingelly oil, mustard powder into the mixing tray / vessel. Mix everything upside down till everything gets mixed uniformly. Add some more tamarind extract if you find the thickness and sourness is not enough. If its for a prasadam or Neivedhyam, then its ruled out. We would be discovering the missing tastes after its being offered to God, and we could later add or modify the missing tastes. Generally this version of tamarind rice tastes heavenly after 2-3 hours as all the spices set with the tamarind extract and rice perfectly. Enjoy this tamarind rice with a side of papads and appalams.
Variations / Tips
You can add some cashew nuts too to this tamarind rice if you are making it for a party or a very special occasion.
You can add another 1 or 2 tsp of oil / gingelly oil if you like..
Dont overcook the rice at all and if the Puliogare is made with sticky or pasty rice, then our efforts are waste and it wont look good and taste good too...
Dont forget to add the Jaggery while making this Puliogare.