Pulihora - Andhra Tamarind Rice
Deepavali lit up the kitchen with fun, laughter and culinary conversations. Our family whipped up an elaborate vegetarian meal which included Pulihora, a traditional favorite among South Indians, an unassuming tangy rice dish speckled with spices, roasted peanuts and aromatic curry leaves. The aroma of Pulihora preparation is enticing that brings nostalgic memories of my grandmother’s kitchen. Isn’t there something about smells and tastes that trigger our moods and take us down memory lane? 
One popular version of Andhra style preparation that is absolutely loved at home involves the use of roasted sesame seeds powder. The moment it touches your tongue, you are hit with addictive flavors that make you crave for more. To savor the true taste of traditional recipes like Pulihora, its advisable to prepare from scratch and resist the temptation to follow the easy route of MTR Pulihora instant mix. Yes, even though instant mixes make our life convenient, store bought mixes lack the authentic home made flavors and aromas. Wouldn’t you agree?
Pulihora Recipe
Recipe source: Amma
Prep & Cooking: 45 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
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Ingredients:
2 cups raw rice (cook such that each grain is separate, spread to cool)
1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi/pasupu
15-20 fresh curry leaves
salt to taste
large lemon sized tamarind (soak in a cup of hot water and extract pulp)
1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
1 tbsp channa dal (split bengal gram)
1 tbsp urad dal/minappapu/split black gram
1 tsp teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 medium dry red chilli
4-5 green chillis slit length wise
1 1/2 tsps finely chopped ginger
1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida/inguva
1 1/2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds pwd
2 fistfuls roasted peanuts
3 tbsps oil
1 Sprinkle turmeric pwd, salt, a tbsp of oil and few fresh curry leaves to the cooked and cooled rice and keep aside.
2 Heat the remaining oil in a cooking vessel, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add dry red chillis, cumin seeds, channa dal, urad dal and fry for a minute till light brown. Next add the slit green chillis, ginger, asafoetida and few curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.
2 Add the tamarind extract and jaggery and cook till the raw smell of tamarind disappears, approx 5-7 mts. It will be a like a thick but flowing paste. Remove from heat.
3 Add the cooked tamarind mix and combine well such that its spread all over the rice. Adjust salt. Finally sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds pwd and roasted peanuts and combine well. Let it sit for at least 3-4 hours for the flavors to set in.
4 Serve with appadam/chips, majjiga mirapakaayalu (sun dried chillis) and yogurt. Makes a complete meal.
Note:
Pulihora tastes best after sitting for a couple of hours from the time of preparation. Another version is to replace sesame seeds pwd with a tsp of black mustard seeds pwd (ava podi or paste).
This is my entry to Srivalli’s ‘Rice Mela’ and Sunshinemom’s ‘Food In Colours - Brown’ food events.
By sailu • Oct 30th, 2008 • Category: All Recipes, Andhra Recipes, Festival recipes, Rice recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Looks yummy. My mouth is watering already.
Absolutely Sailu, home made powders and sauces definitely make a difference and the fresh taste is something to savor.
Hi Sailu,
Your pulihora recipe looks yummmmmmyyy.
mouth watering.
i also prepare pulihora like this ,
but i didn’t add sessame and peanut.
Thank you Sailu,
Take care, bye.
You said it right, homemade food always gets a special touch of love and respect from people we serve.
Pulihora looks delicious.
Looks authentic n appetizing..
We serve this with a red chutney at home. I love it, tastes especially good wrapped in banana laves and eaten in trains
I too love tamarind rice when I have it after letting those flavors get totally absorbed! Thank you for sending the delicacy to FIC:)
Wow looks yummy.
Homemade is far better for the fresh aroma. Ur bowl of pulihora is very authentic!
Thanks for this, made it the other night and it was fantastic! Photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/newfolder/3018608753/. This might be a stupid question but do you crush the chana and urad dal after frying them?
Its not a stupid question, Billy. You don’t need to crush the dals. I’m glad you enjoyed tamarind rice.
My mom is from Andhra.I tried this recipe Ms.Sailu. It was a winner at home! Thanks again for all the recipes with pictures!
Now you are making me homesick..
Wonderful recipe and nice photos.
Hi Shailu,
Just now happened to read this recipe.Thank u for giving such a wonderful recipe.
I would like to give one suggestion.Instead of adding Cumin seeds,we can add very little amount of fenugreek seeds.It gives nice flavour.Somehow,cumin seeds doesnt go with tamarind pulihora.
Aparna
And no ginger please in this preparation.
Aparna
hi, i tried many other recipes,but i really liked ur preparation the best.thanks for sharing with us.