Pindi Pulihora

We all Southies must be familiar with Pulihora/Puliyodharai/Puliyogare and must have made it/ tasted it atleast once in our lives. Some people love it and some dont. I fall into the second category. Unless made in a very specific way, I have always stayed away from Pulihora, that is the normal rice one. Amma realized this and introduced me to this Pindi Pulihora which tastes amazing. Instead of being made with rice, this is made with rava made from rice. Growing up, this was made every time we traveled. The fact that it stays fresh and tasty even after a day, makes it a perfect travel food. And there is more to it. It feels light too. When Amma was here last week, she prepared it for me and I fell in love with it all over again. For those of you who are Pulihora lovers, try n enjoy this dish and for those of you who dont like it much, pls do try as well - for it tastes great.

What I used -

• Rice Rava - 1 cup
• Water - 1.5 cups
• Oil - 4 tbsp
• Tamarind Paste - 1.5 tbsp
• Turmeric - 2tsp
• Green Chillies - 3
• Red Chillies - 1 or 2
• Curry Leaves - a few
• Salt - as req
• Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
• Urad Dal - 2 tsp
• Chana Dal - 2 tsp
• Groundnuts - 2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1.5tsp

How I made -

1. In a cooker, bring water to boil with salt, turmeric and 1tsp of oil. Add the rice rava and stir it continuously. Rava would be cooked quick and absorb most of the water. At this stage, put on the lid with whistle and reduce the flame. Switch it off after 3 whistles and quickly transfer the cooker to a plate filled with water - this is avoid the base of the cooked rava getting overcooked.
2. Meanwhile, in a kadai - heat oil. Add red chillies, mustard, urad dal, chana dal, groundnut and let them all splutter. Finally add asafoetida, curry leaves and green chillies. Keep aside.
3. Once the pressure drops in the cooker, take out the cooked rava. Transfer it into a wide bottomed vessel (preferably  a basin), let it cool completely. Add a teaspoon of oil and break apart any lumps that may have come up. We would want well cooked rava, which stands out separately - not sticky.
4. In another vessel, bring the tamarind pulp with little water and salt to boil. After a couple of minutes, transfer it to the cooked rava, along with the tadka. Mix well and serve with curd, as my mom does 🙂