Tamarind Rice

Chintapandu Pulihora.

Tamarind rice is a traditional South Indian dish made with freshly prepared tamarind pulp. Sona masoori rice is cooked with 1 part rice and 2 1/4 parts water till done. Oil is tempered with dals and spices. Green chillies and minced ginger is added to the tempering along with fresh tamarind pulp. The pulp is cooked till oil separates from it and later mixed with steamed rice.
Makes: 3 Cups of Tamarind Rice.

Ingredients:

Steamed Rice 3 Cups
Green chillies 3-5
Ginger 1 inch piece
Tamarind 3 inch sized ball
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Raw Peanuts 3 tbsps
Raw Whole Cashews 10
Salt to taste

Talimpu:

Chana dal 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 3/4 tsp
Broken red chillies 5
Curry leaves 15 – 20
Asafoetida 1/4 tsp
Sesame Oil 2 tbsps

Method of preparation:

Soak tamarind in 1 1/2 cup of warm water for 15 minutes and extract all the pulp.
Wash, remove stems and slice the green chiles.
Peel and mince the ginger.

Heat oil in a pan, add peanuts, cashews and roast them until light golden brown.
Remove the peanuts and cashews onto a bowl, add chana dal in the same pan with remaining oil.
When chana dal starts to sizzle, add all other talimpu ingredients in order.
When chana dal turns light brown, add sliced green chillies and minced ginger.
Fry for a minute and add freshly prepared tamarind pulp, turmeric powder and salt.
Leave the tamarind mixture to bubble for around 10 minutes or until the oil separates and pulp thickens.
Cool and store the prepared tamarind pulp mixture in a sealed jar and refrigerate.
For couple of months, you can use this tamarind mixture to mix with the steamed rice to prepare pulihara.

In a mixing bowl, add steamed rice, more than half of the cooked tamarind mixture, fried peanuts and cashews.
Mix everything thoroughly with a wide spatula.
Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Serve tamarind rice with half a cup of plain yogurt.
Notes:Make sure to let the tamarind mixture cook in the spices.

Suggestions:If tamarind rice is not sour enough, add more of the tamarind mixture to the steamed rice. Add another quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder for color.
Variations:You can also add chopped cilantro to the tamarind mixture once its removed from heat. Cooked black chickpeas are also added to the tamarind mixture at times. Also check out Ava Pettina Andhra Pulihora.
Other Names:Puliyogare, Chintapandu Pulihora, Tamarind Rice, Puliyotharai, Puliyodarai, Puli Saadham, Imli Rice, Huli Anna.

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Chaat Chutneys

Red chutney, Green chutney and Tamarind chutney.

Chaat is a form of savory snacks generally served at road side carts or stalls in India. Chaat is generally served with various chutneys. Green chutney is made of fresh herbs like mint and cilantro leaves. Tamarind dates chutney is tart and sweet chutney made of tamarind pulp, dates or jaggery. Red chutney is spicy and hot which is made of dried red chiles and garlic cloves.
Makes: 1/2 – 1 Cup of Red chutney, Green chutney and Tamarind chutney

Ingredients:

Green Chutney:

Mint Leaves 1 1/2 Cups packed
Cilantro Leaves 2 Cups Packed
Garlic 2 Cloves (optional)
Green Chiles 3 – 4
Lemon Juice 1 tbsp
salt to taste

Tamarind Chutney:

Tamarind 4 inch Sized Ball
Pitted Dates 4 (optional)
Jaggery 1 inch Block
Ginger 1 inch Piece
Cumin Powder 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Red Chutney:

Whole Red Chiles 6
Garlic 6 – 9 cloves
Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

Thoroughly clean and wash mint and cilantro leaves.
Remove any hard stalks and roughly chop both mint and cilantro leaves.
Remove stems, wash and roughly chop green chiles.
Peel and chop garlic cloves.
Grind all the green chutney ingredients into smooth paste adding enough water for the green chutney.

Soak tamarind in a cup of hot water and extract all the thick pulp.
Roughly chop the dates.
Peel and mash the ginger.
Heat half a cup of water in a sauce pot, add tamarind extract, dates, ginger and jaggery.
Cook till dates turn soft and jaggery dissolves.
Cool the tamarind mixture to room temperature.
Grind it along with cumin, red chile powder and salt into smooth paste.

Remove stems, break the red chiles and soak them in warm water for 10 – 15 minutes.
Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves.
Grind soaked red chiles, garlic cloves and salt into smooth paste adding sufficient water for the red chutney.

Serve the red chutney, green chutney and tamarind chutney with the chaat or deep fried snacks or fritters.
Notes: Store tight these red chutney, green chutney and tamarind chutney in a jar and refrigerate for a week or two.

Suggestions:Make sure to adjust the consistency of the chutneys with more or less water.
Variations:Chaat masala and black salt is adding in chutneys according to preference.
Other Names:Chaat Chutney, Red chutney or Garlic Chutney or Lal Chutney, Hari Chutney or Green chutney or Cilantro Mint Chutney or Mint Coriander Chutney, Tamarind chutney or Tamarind Dates Chutney.

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