Make a checklist. Keep the necessary items close by.

Make a checklist. Keep the necessary items close by.

Fry the powder ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cumin, pepper, fenugreek, and sesame seeds one by one and fry for 2 minutes. Let cool; grind after cooling. Fry the chili flakes in the remaining oil in a saucepan over medium heat, do not let them char. Once fragrant, set aside. Grind after cooling.

Keep the powder asidefor later use
Fry the chana and urad dal, and curry leaves in the same oil over medium heat (to season). Set aside.

Add 2c water to tamarind paste in a bowl, mix, then add the tamarind water to the left over oil in the same saucepan over medium flame and boil it. After boiling, add turmeric powder. Let it boil well. Add the seasoning ingredients. Then add all the powdered ingredients and mix it. Add salt, add asafetida and stir and mix it. Let the sauce thicken. Tamarind kaichal/sauce is ready.

Soak rice in 6c of water for 30 minutes. Rinse. Strain. Boil 8c water in a saucepan Over medium-high heat. Add the rice to boiling water. Bring it to boil. Boil until the rice is 90% cooked. Let it bloom like jasmine flowers. Then drain. Pour the cooked rice with water over a wire basket to drain. Once upon a time, my mother used to make rice like this. 1 cup of rice yields 5 cups of cooked rice.

Both the rice and thickened tamarind kaichal are ready. Pour the remaining oil generously over the rice. Spread the green curry leaves on top. Top with the roasted peanuts. Mix the pulikaichal little by little with the rice. Check if the salt is right.

Do not serve immediately. Let all the ingredients blend together for a couple of hours. The pulihara tastes better the next day ; will taste better with time. Taste and serve. Serve with chips or fried papads. Serve with vadam too.
Tips Good sesame seed oil, ginger, tamarind are very important are absolutely essential for making good pulihara/puliyodharai. Enjoy