Puli Kaichal or Puliyodharai Paste

Puli Kaichal or Puliyodharai Paste 

Today I'm going to give a very delicious and special dish, Puli Kaichal. A traditional South Indian Brahmin style Puli Kaichal or Puliyodhari paste. I learnt it after making so many mistakes. I'm happy to share the method with you all.

Puli Kaichal

Ingredients

Tamarind - 1 big apple size
Bengal gram dhall - 2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilli-  6-7 nos.
Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Black gram dhall - 1 tsp
Ground nuts - 2-3 tsp
Curry leaves - 4 strands
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt - As required
Jaggery - 1 tsp (optional)

 

Method

Soak tamarind for half-an-hour. Take thick tamarind extract and filter it to remove impurities.

Dry Roast, 1 tsp Bengal gram dhall, coriander seeds, red chilli, and 3 stands curry leaves. Allow it to cool.

Dry grind the roasted ingredients to a fine powder.

Heat 1 tbsp of gingelly oil in deep thick bottomed pan or a pressure cooker.

Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add bengal gram, black gram, ground nuts, curry leaves and fry for few seconds.

Now add Tamarind extract slowly with continuous stirring. Add turmeric powder and salt and mix well. Bring to boil.

 

Allow it boil for 15 - 20 minutes. Close it with a lid to avoid splattering outside. Stir frequently to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining gingelly oil little by little in frequent gaps.

Now the boiling liquid becomes thicker and it will take all the oil added to it. Add half of the dry ground powder to it at this stage. Mix well and continue stirring. If you like to add jaggery, add at this stage. Check for salt. If needed, we can add at this stage. (Store the remaining powder in a clean dry airtight container.)

The mix will become thicker. A pleasant aroma of  Puli Kaichal will start coming for the boiling mixture. The oil which was taken by the mix will start coming out.

 

The mix will become thicker and thicker and it will transform to a fine paste. At this stage we can take it off from the flame. Allow it to cool. Transfer the pulikaichal into a clean dry air-tight container.

Add required quantity of pulikaichal to hot rice with gingelly oil and 1/2 tsp of the ground powder. Mix well to make Puliyodarai or Puli Sadam.


*Note: We can use the ground powder to make various Kootu or Poriyal or otherwise to make instant Sambar too.

Yummy! Puli Kaichal

Have a nice day. Will meet you all with yet another delicious dish. Bye friends.