Puliyodharai, alias Ambat Bhath , how we call it in my mother tongue, is my favorite rice
. My SH, though, he likes it, he takes only a lil amount, since the recipe has more salt in it. My son is similar to me and he is an ardent fan of “Imali Bhuva”,
how he call it. Preparing the tamarind paste (pulikaychal) for this recipe is little tricky and somewhat a time consuming process for me. I learnt the recipe from my mom and the measurement she uses for it will be exact and turns out too good in taste. Though I haven’t reached her height, am trying to do it.
During my college days, I use to take Puliyodharai with Black Gram Sundal frequently. All my friends are fan of my amma’s Puliyodharai. Once I open the lunch box, it will vanish in minutes
. And I wanna share such a nice recipe 
of my mom with all you my blogger friends!
There are two process in preparing puliyodharai : One is preparing tamarind paste / pulikaychal and the other one is preparing rice for it.
Ingredients for Pulikaychal – Tamarind Paste:
The quantity specified here will be suffice to prepare the puliyodharai for 4 - 5 times. Generally , I use to prepare to tamarind paste / pulikaychal in large quantity, since it can be refrigerated and stays good for more than a month (since we are adding more oil and salt). You can store it in an airtight container and can use whenever you prepare the rice. Only thing is, you have to use clean and dry spoon to scoop out the tamarind paste, instead of using hands.
Cooking Instructions:
Soak tamarind with the salt in enough (about 300ml) of water for an hour. Crush gently the tamarind and the water in it with your hands and filter the pulp using the strainer. Again add half a glass of water to the tamarind and extract the remaining pulp by straining it again. Discard the tamarind now.
Heat a wide pan and add the extracted tamarind pulp to it and bring it to boil in a high flame. When it starts to boil, simmer the flame.
Meanwhile, heat cooking oil in a fry pan and add dry red chillies to it and fry it. Add the fried chillies to the boiling tamarind pulp.
Let the tamarind pulp continue boiling until the oil in it starts to float on the top of the pulp and the pulp forms like a thick paste and reduces in 1/4th of its quantity, like the store bought one or to a Panchamirtam consistency. Add the fenugreek powder ( To prepare fenugreek powder, dry roast 25gms of fenugreek seeds and cool it down and finely powder in it a mixer jar) and just give a boil not more than 5 minutes. Switch off the flame at this stage and let it cool down well and transfer it to the airtight container or a glass bottle. Pulikaychal / Tamarind Pulp is ready and you can refrigerate it now!
Ingredients for Cooking Rice:
Cooking Instructions:
Wash and clean the rice until the water in the rice runs out clear. Add rice in a wide pan and water little less than the neck of the pan. Add salt and oil to it and bring it to boil in high flame. When it starts to boil, reduce the flame and cook until the rice is 3/4th done )When u press the cooked rice with your fingers, it should not be too hard and too soft). Switch off the flam excess water at this stage and drain the excess water in a large colander. Then let the rice to cool down in a big plate.
Ingredients to Temper:
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it starts to crackle, add black gram and when it starts to change in color, add bengal gram.
When Bengal gram starts to change golden in color, add asafetida, following that add turmeric powder and curry leaf and finally switch off the flame and let it cool down.
Mixing of Rice and Tamarind Paste:
Now add enough amount of tamarind paste ( you can add little by little accordingly to adjust the taste) , tempered items and mix it thoroughly that both the and tamarind paste incorporates well. Check for salt and tanginess and add salt and tamarind paste finally.
Puliyodharai / Tamarind Rice stays good for about one and half day. So, everyone prefer to take tamarind rice while we go for one day tour or for one or two days train journey too. We can prepare tamarind paste and the items to be tempered in the before day itself, if we are planning to prepare for breakfast and pack for lunch. In the morning, our work is just to cook rice and mix the tamarind paste and work will be done soon.
. My SH, though, he likes it, he takes only a lil amount, since the recipe has more salt in it. My son is similar to me and he is an ardent fan of “Imali Bhuva”,
how he call it. Preparing the tamarind paste (pulikaychal) for this recipe is little tricky and somewhat a time consuming process for me. I learnt the recipe from my mom and the measurement she uses for it will be exact and turns out too good in taste. Though I haven’t reached her height, am trying to do it. 
During my college days, I use to take Puliyodharai with Black Gram Sundal frequently. All my friends are fan of my amma’s Puliyodharai. Once I open the lunch box, it will vanish in minutes
. And I wanna share such a nice recipe 
of my mom with all you my blogger friends! There are two process in preparing puliyodharai : One is preparing tamarind paste / pulikaychal and the other one is preparing rice for it.
Ingredients for Pulikaychal – Tamarind Paste:
| Tamarind | 250 gms |
| Dry Red Chilly | 25 |
| Fenugreek Powder | 3/4 tbsp |
| Rock Salt | 3 tbsp |
| Cooking Oil | little less than 1/4 cup |
The quantity specified here will be suffice to prepare the puliyodharai for 4 - 5 times. Generally , I use to prepare to tamarind paste / pulikaychal in large quantity, since it can be refrigerated and stays good for more than a month (since we are adding more oil and salt). You can store it in an airtight container and can use whenever you prepare the rice. Only thing is, you have to use clean and dry spoon to scoop out the tamarind paste, instead of using hands.
Cooking Instructions:
Soak tamarind with the salt in enough (about 300ml) of water for an hour. Crush gently the tamarind and the water in it with your hands and filter the pulp using the strainer. Again add half a glass of water to the tamarind and extract the remaining pulp by straining it again. Discard the tamarind now.
Heat a wide pan and add the extracted tamarind pulp to it and bring it to boil in a high flame. When it starts to boil, simmer the flame.
Meanwhile, heat cooking oil in a fry pan and add dry red chillies to it and fry it. Add the fried chillies to the boiling tamarind pulp.
Let the tamarind pulp continue boiling until the oil in it starts to float on the top of the pulp and the pulp forms like a thick paste and reduces in 1/4th of its quantity, like the store bought one or to a Panchamirtam consistency. Add the fenugreek powder ( To prepare fenugreek powder, dry roast 25gms of fenugreek seeds and cool it down and finely powder in it a mixer jar) and just give a boil not more than 5 minutes. Switch off the flame at this stage and let it cool down well and transfer it to the airtight container or a glass bottle. Pulikaychal / Tamarind Pulp is ready and you can refrigerate it now!
Ingredients for Cooking Rice:
| Raw Rice / Pacharisi | 2 cups |
| Water | Required Quantity |
| Cooking Oil | 1 tsp (to avoid sticking of rice) |
| Salt | 2 tsp |
Cooking Instructions:
Wash and clean the rice until the water in the rice runs out clear. Add rice in a wide pan and water little less than the neck of the pan. Add salt and oil to it and bring it to boil in high flame. When it starts to boil, reduce the flame and cook until the rice is 3/4th done )When u press the cooked rice with your fingers, it should not be too hard and too soft). Switch off the flam excess water at this stage and drain the excess water in a large colander. Then let the rice to cool down in a big plate.
Ingredients to Temper:
| Cooking Oil | 3 tbsp |
| Mustard Seeds | 1 tsp |
| Broken Black Gram / Udaicha Ula=utham Paruppu | 1 tsp |
| Bengal Gram / Kadalai Paruppu | 3 tsp |
| Turmeric Powder | 1/2 tsp |
| Asafetida | 1/2 tsp |
| Curry Leaf | 3 sprigs |
When Bengal gram starts to change golden in color, add asafetida, following that add turmeric powder and curry leaf and finally switch off the flame and let it cool down.
Mixing of Rice and Tamarind Paste:
Puliyodharai / Tamarind Rice stays good for about one and half day. So, everyone prefer to take tamarind rice while we go for one day tour or for one or two days train journey too. We can prepare tamarind paste and the items to be tempered in the before day itself, if we are planning to prepare for breakfast and pack for lunch. In the morning, our work is just to cook rice and mix the tamarind paste and work will be done soon.
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Deepa