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Pulikachal refers to a tamarind-based spicy condiment used as a side dish or to mix with rice to make the traditional Puliogarai or Tamarind rice.
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5 from 8 votes

Pulikachal | How to make Pulikachal | Iyengar Pulikaachal recipe

Pulikachal refers to a tamarind-based spicy condiment used as a side dish or to mix with rice to make the traditional Puliogarai or Tamarind rice.
Prep Time25 minutes
Active Time25 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: South Indian, Tambrahm, Tamilnadu Cusine
Keyword: Instant Puliogarai mix, Instant Puloogre Mix, Puiiodharai mix, Pulikaachai, Pulikachal, Puliogare gojju
Yield: 200 grams
Author: Kalyani

Equipment

  • Thick Bottomed Pan
  • Spice Blender
  • Ladle

Materials

  • ½ cup Sesame Oil Nallennai / Til ka tel
  • 4 tablespoon SEsame oil additional oil needed
  • 100 grams Tamarind Imli / Puli - 100 gms
  • 2 tablespoon Bengal gram Channa dal / Kadalai paruppu
  • 2 tablespoon Split black gram Urad Dal / Ulutham paruppu
  • 15 nos. Whole red chillies I used pandi variety mirchi - you could sub with Guntur variety
  • 1 tablespoon Mustard seeds
  • 3 tablespoon Peanuts
  • 1 teaspoon Turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon Asafoetida
  • 2 tablespoon Jaggery optional, but recommended
  • 4 sprigs Curry leaves
  • 2 teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
  • 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds black sesame seeds works better than white here
  • 2 tablespoon Desiccated Coconut Copra,optional, but recommended

For Spice powder: (Adjust spice according to taste)

  • 3 tablespoon Coriander seeds Malli
  • 2 tablespoon Bengal Gram channa Dal
  • 1 tablespoon Split black gram urad dal
  • 2 tablespoon Black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds Vendhayam / Methi dana
  • 2 sprig Curry leaves
  • 5 Red chilli I used 2 kashmiri and 3 Guntur variety

Instructions

  • Roast all spices for spice powder separately in 1 teaspoon of oil. Cool and grind. Divide spice powder into 2 parts : ⅔ and ⅓ portions respectively.
  • Soak tamarind in hot water for ½ hour, extract the pulp
  • Roast dry copra and sesame separately
  • Heat the deep bottomed thick kadai (if you have a cast iron pan, it works best). When the oil is heated, add peanuts and fry well till golden brown. remove only the peanuts to a plate with a slotted  spoon
  • Now add mustard seeds, turmeric, hing, curry leaves, broken red chillies, Urad and Channa dal and fry till dals turn golden brown, Now add the tamarind pulp with the water too. Add salt, ⅔ of the ground spice powder and jaggery.
  • Let it cook on medium flame for 10-12 mins till the water evaporates and it becomes a thick pulp, the oil will spurt quite a bit so place a lid halfway, and away from your face.
  • Once the mixture thickens even further and coats the back of a spoon (alternatively, the oil starts leaving the sides and the mixture starts simmering in slow spurts), turn off and add the fried peanuts , roasted copra and sesame seeds and mix well
  • Let it completely cool.
  • Transfer to airtight sterile steel / glass container.
  • If you feel the gravy has thickened too much, heat addition ¼ cup sesame oil, cool COMPLETELY and add to the mixture before bottling.
  • Keeps for upto 2-3 months under refrigeration.
  • Apart from making Puliogorai, this is also a great side dish for Curd Rice.
  • To make Kovil Puliyodharai / Puliyogarai, Cook rice into separate grains, Add requisite Pulikaachal paste, the remaining spice powder and mix well. Serve immediately.