Pulihora or tamarind rice is a traditional Andhra recipe. A quintessential South Indian rice dish known for its tangy, spicy and aromatic flavour.

During the festival season, we would offer some dishes to the deities. Pulihora or tamarind rice is always on the top of the list. Spicy green chillies cooked in sour tamarind juice gives a nice taste to the dish. It is the easy recipe too, just follow the instructions to get a perfect Andhra style Chintapandu Pulihora recipe. We can make different varieties of pulihoras like nimmakaya (Lemon Rice), Mamidikaya (Raw Mango Rice), Dabbakaya (GrapeFruit Rice), Tomato etc., but pulihora made with tamrind is the best one. It can be served on any normal day also. Pulihora of Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam is very popular and tasty apart from Laddu. Any festival is incomplete without it in South India in particular Telugu states.

History of Pulihora:

Pulihora or tamarind rice has deep connections in South Indian culinary traditions, especially in temples and festivals. The other names of it are Puliyodarai in Tamil and puliyogare in Kannada. and it is made almost the same way with a little difference. The name “Pulihora” comes from two Telugu words: “puli” (meaning tamarind) and “hora” (a variant of ‘rice’). Dating back to ancient times when tamarind was used as a preservative and flavouring agent, it is ideal for travel to preserve the rice for longer time.

Simple Steps:

These are the simple steps to follow while making it.

Soaking tamarind: Soak tamrind for at least half an hour or more. Soak it with just enough water, do not pour too much water.
Cut chillis and ginger: Cutting ginger and chillis is very important to make it. We have to slit the green chillis and make as tiny as possible pieces of ginger, do not crush them.
Cooking rice: Cook the rice to get perfect grainy texture. Pressure cook the rice with 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. Do not over cook.
Cool the rice: As soon as the cooker cools down spread the rice in a wide plate and add oil to absorb the excess moisture.
Tadka: the most important and interesting part of the dish is the tadka. Fry the tadka in a low to medium flame to get uniform colour and blend. Adding peanuts to get nice taste. Some add cashew nuts too but I don’t like them. Curry leaves and asafoetida are the most important ingredients of tadka, without them the dish is incomplete.

Check the below table for a detailed recipe.

Pulihora | Tamarind Rice | Pulihora recipe | Festival Pulihora

Pulihora or tamarind rice is a quintessential South Indian rice dish known for its tangy, spicy and aromatic flavour. Chintapandu Pulihora is a traditional Andhra recipe. Spicy green chillies cooked in sour tamarind gives a nice taste

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Andhra/Telangana, Indian

Servings 6

Ingredients

2 Cups Rice
1 Cup Thick Tamarind pulp
5 Green Chillies Slit
4 ” Long Ginger Finely Chopped
7 to 10 Curry Leaves
Salt to Taste
1 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp Jaggery
1/4 Tsp Asafoetida
6 Tbsp Oil
2 Tbsp Peanuts
1 Tbsp Black Gram/Urad Dal
1 Tbsp Bengal Gram/Chana Dal
1 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds

Instructions

Soak tamarind in little water for half an hour or more.
Extract the juice by squeezing out the soaked tamarind. Keep this tamarind juice aside.
Do not add water while extracting the juice. The tamarind juice should be in thick consistency.
Chop ginger, slit green chillies and wash curry leaves and keep all of them aside.
Pressure cook 2 cups of rice with 4 cups of water and a spoonful of oil in it for 3 whistles.
Once the pressure cools down, spread the rice on a wide plate to cool completely.
Add a spoonful of oil all over the rice, this would absorb the excess moisture present in the rice.
Heat oil in a kadai, add peanuts and allow them to fry for a minute.
When the peanuts started changing colour, add bengal gram and black gram. Fry them for a minute.
When they start changing the colour, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
Add turmeric powder and asafoetida.
When they start spluttering add split green chillies, chopped ginger and curry leaves.
Once they fried add the thick tamarind juice.
If need be add little water (1 or 2 tbsp of it).
Add salt and allow this to cook till the tamarind juice become thick and the paste leaves oil.
When the tamarind juice started rolling boiling add jaggery to it.
Once the tamarind juice become thick and oil started separating from the kadai switch off the flame.
Add this paste to the rice.
Mix it well so that all the entire rice combines well with the tamarind paste.
Serve tamarind rice or Pulihora with curd or as it is.