Puliyogare, also called pulihora or tamarind rice, is a traditional South Indian-style recipe prepared with rice, tamarind, and aromatic spices. One of the popular lunchbox and prasadam recipes prepared at temples and homes during Navratri or any puja.
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About Puliyogare (Tamarind Rice)
Puliyogare is prepared with tamarind as a main ingredient, along with spices, lentils, peanuts, and curry leaves mixed with cooked rice. Puli means "tangy' or 'sour' in English. Pulihora is also known as pulisoru, pulinchoru, puliyodharai, ambad baath, puli sadam, kokum rice in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Telangana, and each region has its own variation.
Puliyogare gojju (paste) or Pulihora podi (powder) is premade and stored for months. You have to mix it with rice to make it instantly.
Puliyogare or Pulihora is offered to god as naivedyam and as prasadam to devotees in South Indian temples. This is offered to goddess Lakshmi during special puja or nine days of Navratri.
Puliyogare is also one of the best lunchbox recipes, and since this dish has a longer shelf life, it's also a good food to carry during your travels, potlucks, and picnics.
How to make puliyogare?
The ingredients may look repetitive, and the steps may look lengthy, but this is very simple. Here are the key steps to make temple-style puliyogare at home.
- Soak the tamarind.
- Cook the rice.
- Make puliyogare powder.
- Prepare the tempering.
- Mix the powder with tamarind and tempering and cook to form puliyogare gojju or tamarind paste.
- Mix the cooked and cooled rice with the paste and toss till combined.
- Serve and enjoy.
To make it for a quick breakfast or instant lunchbox recipe, you can make the powder and gojju in advance and store them in the refrigerator. The rice can also be precooked the previous day or use leftover rice.
Ingredients
Rice: Use short-grain or medium short-grain rice like sona masuri, or kolam to make puliyogare.
Tamarind: Use the tamarind ball or paste.
Jaggery: Only if you want to balance the sourness with sweetness. Else, skip it.
For the puliyogare powder, Coconut oil, urad dal, chana dal, coriander seeds, methi, peppercorns, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, dry red chilies, cashews, coconut, and hing are used.
For the tempering: Oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, chilies, peanuts, curry leaves, and cashews with a pinch of hing are used.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
Tamarind paste
- In a bowl, add tamarind and hot water and soak for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Once it becomes soft, extract the juice using your hands and discard any seeds. To this, add brown sugar or jaggery and keep it aside.
How to make Puliyogare powder?
- Heat oil in a pan. Add urad dal and chana dal, and roast until lightly golden.
- To this, add coriander seeds, methi, and black peppercorn and roast until you get a nice aroma on low flame.
- Add mustard seeds, cumin, sesame seeds, red chilies, and cashews, and saute for a few seconds on low flame.
- Add the coconut and continue to roast. Once you get the nice aroma, add the hing and switch off the flame.
- Grind this to a powder and keep it aside. This powder can also be stored in the refrigerator for two months.
Cook rice or use leftover rice.
Cook the rice using any method that you are comfortable with. Once the rice has cooked, using a fork, spread it to separate the grains. Keep this aside.
Make the puliyogare tempering.
- Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Add mustard seeds. When it starts to splutter, add cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, and saute.
- Once it turns light golden in color, add red chilies, peanuts, cashews, and curry leaves, and saute for 30 seconds.
Making of gojju
- Add tamarind paste to this tempering. Cook it on a medium flame for about 7 minutes or till the rawness goes off, and it becomes like a thick paste. (jam consistency)
- To this, add puliyogare powder little by little and saute for a few more seconds till it becomes a thick paste. You can add salt at this stage. If it turns too thick, you can adjust with 1 or 2 tablespoon of water and simmer for a few minutes. This is puliyogare gojju. Taste check and adjust anything if needed at this point. You can also allow the gojju to cool completely and store it in the refrigerator if you do not want to use it immediately.
Making of puliyogare (pulihora)
- To the cooked rice, add the gojju a little at a time and mix. (Too much gojju will make rice soggy. If you are left with gojju, refrigerate)
- Allow the rice to absorb flavors for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.
Tips
- To get the best result, you will have to be generous when adding all the spices.
- The ingredient list and steps may look lengthy and repetitive, but they are all basic ingredients that will enhance the dish's taste.
- Puliyogare is made with short-grain rice. For the grainy texture, the rice must be cooked and cooled completely. Thus, many use leftover rice to make this recipe.
- If you want to make puliyogare with store-bought powder, then I recommend MTR puliyogare mix.
- I use coconut or neutral oil while making puliyogare, but if you are looking for traditional Iyengar-style puliyogare, use sesame oil.
More South Indian Rice Recipes
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Recipe card
Puliyogare | Pulihora | Tamarind Rice
Equipment
- 2 Pan
Ingredients
To Make Puliyogare powder
- 1 tablespoon Oil (Coconut oil / Vegetable oil / Sesame oil)
- 1 tablespoon Urad Dal
- 1 tablespoon Chana Dal
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds or Methi
- ½ teaspoon Black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds
- 5 Dry red chilies vary as per taste
- 5 Cashews
- 2 tablespoon Grated Coconut (fresh / dry)
- ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida or Hing
For the Tamarind Paste
- ¼ cup Tamarind
- ½ cup Hot Water
- 2 tablespoon Jaggery
For Seasoning / Tempering
- 1 to 2 tablespoon Oil Canola Oil / Coconut Oil / Sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds optional
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 1 tbsp Chana Dal
- 2 Dry red chilies
- 3 tablespoon Peanuts (Groundnuts)
- 8 Curry leaves
- 5 to 6 Cashews
- Asafoetida Hing, a pinch
Other Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Rice (uncooked)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Tamarind paste
- In a bowl, add tamarind and hot water and soak for 10 to 15 minutes.¼ cup Tamarind, ½ cup Hot Water
- Once it becomes soft, extract the juice using your hands and discard any seeds. To this, add brown sugar or jaggery and keep it aside.2 tablespoon Jaggery
How to make Puliyogare powder?
- Heat oil in a pan. Add urad dal and chana dal, and roast until lightly golden.1 tablespoon Oil, ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds, ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds, 1 tablespoon Urad Dal, 1 tablespoon Chana Dal, 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds, ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida, ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
- To this, add coriander seeds, methi, and black peppercorn and roast until you get a nice aroma on low flame.
- Add mustard seeds, cumin, sesame seeds, red chilies, and cashews, and saute for a few seconds on low flame.2 tablespoon Grated Coconut, ½ teaspoon Black peppercorns, 5 Dry red chilies, 5 Cashews
- Add the coconut and continue to roast. Once you get the nice aroma, add the hing and switch off the flame.
- Grind this to a powder and keep it aside. This powder can also be stored in the refrigerator for two months.
Cook rice or use leftover rice.
- Cook the rice using any method that you are comfortable with. Once the rice has cooked, using a fork, spread it to separate the grains. Keep this aside.
Make the puliyogare tempering.
- Heat oil in pan on medium flame. Add mustard seeds. When it starts to splutter, add cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, and saute.1 to 2 tablespoon Oil, 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds, 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon Urad dal, 1 tablespoon Chana Dal
- Once it turns light golden in color, add red chilies, peanuts, cashews, and curry leaves, and saute for 30 seconds.2 Dry red chilies, 3 tablespoon Peanuts, 5 to 6 Cashews, 8 Curry leaves
Making of puliyogare gojju
- Add tamarind paste to this tempering. Cook it on a medium flame for about 7 minutes or till the rawness goes off, and it becomes like a thick paste. (jam consistency)
- To this, add puliyogare powder little by little and saute for a few more seconds till it becomes a thick paste. You can add salt at this stage. If it turns too thick, you can adjust with 1 or 2 tablespoon of water and simmer for a few minutes. This is puliyogare gojju. Taste check and adjust anything if needed at this point. You can also allow the gojju to cool completely and store it in the refrigerator if you do not want to use it immediately.
Making of puliyogare or pulihora
- To the cooked rice, add the gojju a little at a time and mix. (Too much gojju will make rice soggy. If you are left with gojju, refrigerate) .
- Allow the rice to absorb flavors for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- To get the best result, you will have to be generous when adding all the spices.
- The ingredient list and steps may look lengthy and repetitive, but they are all basic ingredients that will enhance the dish's taste.
- Puliyogare is made with short-grain rice. For the grainy texture, the rice must be cooked and cooled completely. Thus, many use leftover rice to make this recipe.
- If you want to make puliyogare with store-bought powder, then I recommend MTR puliyogare mix.
- I use coconut or neutral oil while making puliyogare, but if you are looking for traditional Iyengar-style puliyogare, use sesame oil.
Nutrition
Note: We originally posted this recipe in Sept 2019. It has now been modified in Aug 2023 with Expert Chef Tips, FAQs, Storage Instructions, etc.
Anthony
Wow so full of flavor! A really great rice dish - thanks for sharing!