Puli Saadham (Tamarind Rice)

Puli Saadham, called “Puliyodharai” in Tamilnadu is a sour, spicy and hot rice mixture; a dish considered as a poor man’s festival food in some places in India, as it is a good stomach-filler and also requires very little inexpensive ingredients….
Whether it’s for the poor people or for the others, I love this dish for several reasons: First of all, for the stimulating flavor of tamarind, which gives the tanginess to this rice, ideal for hot temperatures, for picnics, because it doesn’t need to be heated to be palatable, reason why people in India pack this for journeys/ excursions and also because it is stomach-filling, which is important for me :) After all, one of the main reasons for which we eat food is also to fill up our stomachs right?)

It also reminds me of my happy days in the hostel, far far away, long time ago, ………………………Flashback….., whenever there is an excursion, the cooks at the hostel, used to pack up this tamarind rice along with the Egg Masala and the Vadava Thuvayal for the journey….. Happy memories with my friends have remained intact in me along with the memorable tastes on my taste buds which pushed me to do it for my own and only satisfaction, as , neither my beloved nor my teddies are great fans of this rice….:) Sometimes, being selfish makes me feel great :) Cruel me :)
Ingredients:

A handful of tamarind
A sprig curry leaves
10 tbsp sesame oil
¼ cup roasted peanuts / cashew nuts
5 or 6 dry red chilies
A dash of asafetida
A pinch of turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp channa dhal
3 cups boiled rice

To roast or dry fry:
1 tbsp coriander seeds
½ tsp peppercorns
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
¼ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
3 or 4 dry red chilies

Method:
Soak tamarind in 2 cups of warm water for about 15 minutes, filter and extract a thick tamarind mixture.

Roast and grind all the ingredients under “To roast or dry fry:” to a fine powder.

Heat 5 tbsp oil in a vessel and fry the channa dhal, the cashew nuts or peanuts until golden brown; add the curry leaves and the red chilies followed by the mustard seeds; when they splutter, add the asafetida and then the tamarind extract and the turmeric powder. Add salt and boil on low medium heat for about 10 minutes until the raw smell disappears.

Add the powdered spices and correct the saltif necessary. Boil for some more minutes until the oil separates from the sauce. Remove it off the fire.

Spread the boiled rice in a wide pan and add the remaining sesame oil to the rice and stir well until the grains get well separated.

Add the prepared tamarind mixture little by little and stir well until the rice has been well coated or until you get the preferred taste.


This rice tastes even better the next day. Serve as you please with a side dish.