Kovil Puliyodharai – Temple Style Tamarind

Rice Recipe

Mullai February 17, 2014 31634 10 Comments

Facebook Posts
Description:
Puliyodharai is a South Indian rice preparation, a mainstay in most Indian festival luncheons and dinners.
It is also offered as prasadams in temples. Prasadam (a Sanskrit word) is food that has first been offered
to God prepared by the temple priests in the temple Madapalli (Temple kitchen). Thiru madapalli is
traditionally the kitchen in Vaishnavite temples, apart from catering to the divine Lord, these kitchens
often serve Prasadams to the devotees. Madapalli’s are famous for Ven pongal , Puliyodharai, Sarkarai
Pongal, Vadai, Laddu, Thayir sadam & Sambar sadam. These are distributed to devotees in either fresh
banana leaves or dry banana leaf cups (Thonnai). My favorite is Perumal Kovil madapalli prasadams,
especially their Puliyodharai are very famous for tongue tickling taste! No matter how hard we try, we can
never replicate that divine taste in our home kitchens but always wanted to try something which is atleast
close to that taste. There are a million versions online but I personally liked the one shared by Mrs.
Jayashree Govindarajan in her lovely blog My kithcenpitch. She has shared an interesting Temple Style
Puliyodharai, it looked very authentic and I got instantly hooked! I tried her version as it is but added
puliyodharai powder to the pulikachal mix, it turned out great and matched the temple style puliyodharai.
Here goes the recipe….
Puliyodharai Recipe / Temple Style Puliyodharai Recipe / Puli Sadam / Kovil Puli Sadam / Kovil
Puliyodharai / Temple Pulihora /Puli Sadam Mix / Puliyodharai Mix / Puliyodharai Paste Recipes /
Rice Recipes / How to make Puliyodharai ? / Koil Puli Sadam / Kovil Puliyodharai / How to make
Pulikachal / Puli Sadam Mix / Puliyodharai Powder Recipe / Temple Puliyodharai
/ கககககக ககககககககக

Puliyodharai Powder (Roast and grind)

Dry Red Chilli 2 (long)

Channa dal / Kadalai paruppu 2 Tablespoons

Black gram / Ulutham paruppu 1 Tablespoon

Black peppercorn 1 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Oil 1/2 teaspoon

Pulikachal

2 Gooseberry size (Extract pulp with 1 cup

Tamarind
water )

Sesame oil / Nallennai 2 Tablespoons

Mustard seeds 1 teaspoons

Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Dry Red Chilli 2 Long

Channa dal / Kadala paruppu 1 teaspoons

Black gram / Ulutham

1/2 teaspoon
paruppu

Fenugreek seeds 1/4 teaspoon

Asafoetida 1/4 teaspoon

Curry leaves few

Roasted Peanuts 2 Tablespoons

Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon

Salt 1 teaspoon

Oil 2 Tablespoons

Additional ingredients

4 cups ( 1 cup of raw rice roughly yields about 2 1/2 – 3

Cooked Rice
cups of cooked rice)

Sesame oil 5 Tablespoons

Salt 1 teaspoon

Black
4 Teaspoons
peppercorns

Method:
This recipe basically revolves around 3 important items. Tamarind extract, Puliyodharai powder and
Freshly ground black pepper powder.
Lets proceed…

1. Tamarind Extract:

Soak tamarind in 1 cup water for 30 minutes. Mash the soften tamarind in water until the fiber separates.
Squeeze and extract the pulp and throw the waste. Keep this thick pulp aside.

2. Puliyodharai Powder:

This powder is not always required but adding this really makes a difference in taste. Heat oil in a pan
and start roasting the dry red chili, channa dal, urad dal, black pepper, cumin and fenugreek on low
flame.
Roast until the aroma comes or till they turn golden which usually takes 10-12 minutes. Take care not to
burn the spices, roast over very low flame. Once done, let cool completely and grind to a fine powder.

3. Freshly ground Black pepper powder:

Grind 4 teaspoons of black peppercorns to fine powder consistency and keep aside. (Original recipe by
Mrs Jayanthi Govindarajan does not include any dry red chilis, coriander seeds nor sesame seeds and is
made with plain freshly ground black pepper powder alone) Adding this fresh pepper powder is the
highlight, do not skip. It gives a unique taste to this puliyodharai.

How to make the Pulikachal: (Use ingredients from Table-2)

Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, the add channa dal and split black gram dal and roast them
till red or golden followed by cumin seeds, dry red chili , roasted peanuts and curry leaves. Let them roast
for few seconds then add turmeric, asafoetida and salt.

Now add the tamarind extract and cook over low flame until the raw tamarind smell disappears. This
usually take about 15 minutes over low flame.
When the extract condenses to a thick runny consistency, the oil will separate.

Add a teaspoon of the puliyodharai powder at this stage, it will instantly thicken the gravy.
Switch off and remove from heat.
Pulikachal is ready for use.

Take cooked rice rice in wide bowl, drizzle sesame oil on it, add about 3/4 of the pulikachal, one teaspoon
of the black pepper powder, one teaspoon of the Puliyodharai powder and one teaspoon of salt. Gently
mix to combine, take care not to make the rice too mushy.
Check salt and spice level, the pulikachal already has salt plus we are adding some now which should be
sufficient for the amount of rice given but adjust according to your taste. For a spicer version add more
black pepper powder. Once done with mixing, cover and let it sit for atleast an hour, this way the rice will
absorb all the flavor from the mix and makes your Puliyodharai taste even better.

Serve plain or with pappad.

 Notes
Yields about 4 cups of puliyodharai, 3 Adult servings.

Both Pulikachal and puliyodharai powder keeps well for couple of weeks if
refrigerated.

1/4 of the pulikachal was left out intentionally. Add it if you want your rice to taste
more tangy.

This recipe does not inlcude jaggery, you may add a 1/4 teaspoon while making
pulikachal if you prefer lightly sweet and tangy.

This recipe is made with Pachai arisi ( Normal Raw rice)(Recommended), you
may also try with Basmati rice.

Roasted peanuts are used for this recipe, if using raw peanuts.. then dry roast them
in a tawa and then proceed.

Puliyodharai powder is optional too, you may try without the powder too but
increase the black pepper powder.

I’ve used vellai puli for this recipe, use of dark tamarind (Karuppu Puli) will yield
a darker color Puliyodhari.