Name: Tamarind Rice (Puliyogare)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1½ cup Cooked Rice, cooled completely; ½ Tamarind, soaked in hot water to extract thick pulp; ⅛ cup Peanuts, raw; 1½ tbsp Sesame Oil, gingelly oil, absolutely essential for flavor; ½ tsp Mustard Seeds; ½ tbsp Split Bengal Gram; ½ tbsp Split Black Gram (Skinless), split black gram; 2 Dried Red Chili Peppers, broken; 1 Green Chili Pepper, slit; 8 Curry Leaves; ¼ tsp Asafoetida, generous pinch; ¼ tsp Ground Turmeric; ½ tsp Jaggery, crushed, balances the sourness; 1 tbsp Puliyogare Masala, store-bought or homemade spice blend; ¾ tsp Salt, to taste

1 hr 15 mintotal

45 min hands-on30 min hands-off

Prep 15 min · Cook 30 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium

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Method

Work the tamarind pulp thoroughly with your hands and strain it, to get a thick, concentrated, sharply sour extract.
Bring the authentic sesame (gingelly) oil to temperature in a heavy-gauge kadhai over medium heat. Introduce the raw peanuts, agitating them continuously until they achieve a resounding crunch and golden finish. Extract and reserve.
In the remaining flavoured oil, start the tempering: add the mustard seeds and let them pop. Follow with the chana dal and urad dal, roasting them slowly until they turn a deep toasted amber.
Add the broken dried red chillies, slit green chillies, fresh curry leaves and a good pinch of asafoetida (hing). Flash-sauté for about 10 seconds to release the aroma.
10 sec
Pour the thick tamarind extract into the hot pan to deglaze it. Stir in the turmeric powder and the salt straight away.
Reduce the tamarind mixture over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Cook it down until it thickens into a dark, oily paste (gojju) and the oil separates out at the edges.
10–15 min
Fold in the crushed jaggery to counterbalance the severe acidity, followed by the Puliyogare masala powder. Integrate thoroughly and simmer for a final 2 minutes to homogenize the complex flavors.
2 min
Turn off the heat. Add the cooled cooked rice and the reserved crunchy peanuts to the pan.
Using a wide, flat spatula, fold everything through very gently but thoroughly. Coat every grain in the dark, tangy paste without breaking the rice.
Let it rest for at least 30 minutes before serving, so the flavours soak right into the rice.
30 min

How to tell it's done

The grains should be separate and glossy with oil, sour, spicy and deep in flavour, broken up by the crunch of fried peanuts and lentils.

Getting it right

Tip

Puliyogare tastes right only with gingelly (sesame) oil. Cook the tamarind gojju down until it is thick: any water left in it makes the rice wet and sticky, and it won't keep.

What to serve it with

Serve it at room temperature with a crisp papad or potato chips. It travels well, so it also suits a lunchbox.

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Ingredients