Cook Rice

In a Dutch oven or thick bottom pan Cook 2 cups of rice 4 cups of water, salt and turmeric powder. Ratio to water and rice should be 1: 2.  It took about 30 minutes or until the rice holds its shape. Remove from the oven and spread it into a thin layer and sprinkle ½ tablespoon of sesame seed oil/ gingerly oil and set aside.

Pulikachal/Gojju/Tamarind Sauce

In a microwave safe bowl heat a bowl of lemon sized tamarind pulp using your hands squeeze out the thick tamarind pulp and discard the seeds and fiber.

Heat oil in a sauce pan on medium-low heat and add the cashew nuts and fry until golden and take it out. Then add peanuts and roast until they start to turn a slight reddish orange color. Add the mustard, cumin seeds and dal next and continue to roast them until they get an even brown color.

Add the curry leaves, red chilies, turmeric powder and asafoetida and stir for 30 secs more. Carefully pour in the tamarind extract, a little salt , jaggery and cook for 10-15mins until the pulikachal/gojju comes together as a thick mass and the oil begins to separates and collect around the edges and set aside.

Spice Powder

In the meantime, in a shallow pan, dry roast the urad dal, chana dal, sesame seeds, fenugreek and coriander seeds separately and set aside. Then add ½ teaspoon oil and add red chilies and roast until it changes color.  The fenugreek and sesame seeds tend to burn quickly so watch while roasting them. Take off the heat and cool for a few minutes before grinding them to a fine powder.

Assembly of Rice

Drizzle a little sesame oil on top and add a few tablespoons of the Pulikachal/gojju and spice powder . Mix lightly without breaking the rice grains. Add salt and more gojju or rice according to taste.

As a final garnish sprinkle the roasted powder on top and mix it in. Cover the pulihora/Puliyodharai and let it rest for at least 30mins before serving.

Notes

Don’t add all the salt to the tamarind extract in the beginning of the cooking process. Since the gojju reduces and thickens towards the end.

If you like your tamarind rice to be a nice glowing yellow, slightly warm up a spoon of sesame oil with a pinch of turmeric and drizzle it on the warm rice before adding the gojju. If the rice is warm enough, you can skip heating the oil.

If you want you can make double the quantity of gojju /pulikachal and store the leftovers in the fridge, it’ll keep well for weeks in an airtight container.