Kovil Puliyodharai / Puliyodharai Recipe

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I tried this from Akshayapatram long back and since then whenever its puliyogare I go blindly with this recipe as my family loved this version as its very close to kovil puliyodharai. Thank you Priya for such a nice keeper recipe, am glad that I tried this. Once when I brought this to office, my collegues were in praises for me :)

I've already tried a slightly different version of Puliyogare and when I saw this first, I doubted whether adding the roasted powder seperately - will that give such a huge difference because my older version was close to this. But believe me, adding the roasted powder seperately gives a totally nice flavour and sure it tasted differently. Now I have 2 versions I never get bored of Puliyodharai :)

Kovil Puliyodharai Recipe:

Recipe Reference : Akshayapaatram

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice - 2 cups
• For the pulikaichal:
• Gingelly Oil (Nallenai) - 3 tbsp
• Peanuts - a fistful (Skin removed)
• Mustard Seeds - ½ tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tbsp
• Urad Dal - 1 tsp
• Dried Red chillies - 2
• Curry Leaves - few
• Powdered jaggery - 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Hing (Perungayam) - a generous pinch
• Tamarind - lemon sized ball
• Salt - to taste

For the powder:

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 ½ tbsp
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Coriander Seeds - ½ tbsp
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Fenugreek Seeds(Venthyam) - ½ tsp
• Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. First add 1/2 cup water to tamarind, let it soak for 15mins.Now squeeze out thick tamarind pulp and keep aside.
2. Meanwhile heat oil and roast the ingredients 'for the powder' one by one in the same order as above until golden brown.Allow it to cool and powder it to a fine powder. Keep aside.
3. Heat gingelly oil in a kadai on medium low heat and add the peanuts. Roast until slightly browned. Now add mustard seeds,channa dal, urad dal,curry leaves, red chillies, turmeric powder and hing. Toast until they are browned evenly.Check and add salt.
4. Now add the tamarind extract and allow it to boil for 10-15mins. Add jaggery and mix well.When oil begins to seperate and the mixture will become at one stage oozing out oil at the edges, at this stage switch off.
5. Take the cooked rice spread it in a wide bowl, drizzle a tsp of oil on top, add the pulikaichal mix well without mushing up the rice.
6. Add salt if required. Now add the roasted powder and give a quick stir. Keep covered and allow it to rest atleast for 30mins before you serve.

My notes:

• Check the pulikaichal once mixed with rice and then add salt accordingly. This is a sticky puliyodharai version as it is in temples.
• I just reduced the chillies quantity from the orginal as I felt a bit spicy for our taste buds, otherwise no major change at all. It was perfect.
• Adding jaggery is optional, I always like that tangy sweet taste in my puliyodharai
• You can store both the pulikaichal and the roasted powder in fridge and it stays well for about a week. Do not reduce oil if you are planning to store.
• You can use basmati or normal rice. This time I used normal rice but basmati rice is recommended.

Usually when I am planning to make puliyogare, I made the roasted powder the before day and refrigerate it. So on the day of making puliyogare, its only the pulikaichal and rice and you r done with your puliyogare in minutes.