Iyenger Pulihora

Hi Friends

Today I am going to prepare Iyenger pulihora as special dish for this festval. Iyenger pulihora is specializes , traditional and famous south Indian dish and considered as most authentic. There are many variations in preparing this pulihora. Of course this is one amongst them. I have tasted this in temples in Chennai. With little variation my MIL prepared nearly the same taste.

I think most of us are fond of this pulihora. This is a combination of tanginess, sweetness and spiciness.

Let us go to prepare Iyenger puliora.

Ingredients

• Rice                               2 cups
• Water                             4 cups
• Tamarind                      100 gms (depends on sourness of tamarind)
• Green mirchi                 3 sliced
• Turmeric powder
• Jaggery powder            3 tbsp                     
• Salt to taste
• Til Oil

For powder

• Sesame powder                 2 tbsp
• Peanuts powder                 2 tbsp
• Dry red mirchi                   8
• Coriander seeds                 1/2 tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds                1/8 tbsp
• Urad dal                             1 tbsp 

For Popu

• Mustard seeds
• Peanuts
• Hing
• Curry leaves

How I prepared

1. Cook rice with 1:2 ratio of rice and water and allow it to cool.
2. Soak tamarind in water and squeeze out thick juice.
3. Take a large deep pan, add oil, let it heat on medium flame.
4. Add mustard seeds,  let it pop, add dry red chillies, hing and curry leaves.
5. Then add tamarind pulp, salt, turmeric powder, sliced green chillies and jaggery.
6. Let it boil in low flame. Stir in between so that it doesn't get burnt.
7. Meantime fry dry red mirchi, coriander seeds , fenugreek seeds and urad dal with drop of oil, let it cool and make it fine powder.
8. When tamarind pulp cooked 80%, add this powder to it and cook on low flame stirring often.
9. The water reduces the thickness into paste like consistency and the oil oozes on the surface. 
10. This is the right way to prepare GOJJU typically.
11. Switch off the stove and mix already prepared sesame and peanuts powder to gojju and mix well.
12. The final stage is take popu pan add sesame oil, let it heat and fry peanuts and curry leaves and mix the rice with this popu.
13. Add concentrated gojju to rice and mix well with your hand without breaking rice.
14. Transfer into a bowl.

 See the taste and adjust the taste adding salt or gojju whichever is necessary. Leave it closed for 1/2 hour so that all the ingredients get into the rice well. It tastes so good once they are binded together. d

 My Notes

1. You can pack pilihora when we go on trips.
2. Preserve the gojju which stays for months in the fridge.
3. I used sesame oil for this type of pulihora.
4. You can prepare sesame and peanuts powder only after dry roast them and then grind them separately.