Quick Tamarind Rice | Homemade Instant Puliodarai

Quick and easy-to-make tamarind rice recipe! Perfect travel food and a fantastic lunch box recipe. Check out how to make this tamarind rice with the homemade instant pulikaichal mix.

I love making pulikaichal or the tamarind rice mix with freshly ground spices. Sometimes I make it a part of weekend meal prep. But there are times when I cannot make it. And that’s when I opt for this instant puliodarai or the pulikaichal recipe. I learned this recipe from my mom, and she often makes this version for our lunchbox. (Do check out my other lunchbox recipes as well)

There isn’t any roast nor grinding involved. So it’s quick, and we can make it easier, and hey there is no compromise in the taste. The fenugreek powder is a significant ingredient that enhances the flavor here. You can use a store-bought one or a homemade one.

For this recipe, I went with the homemade roasted fenugreek powder. I always keep that in hand as I add it to make instant mango pickle, sometimes to vathal kuzhambu or gojju. We love the flavor of fenugreek, and it comes in handy.

Tamarind rice is not only a perfect lunch box recipe, but it is also our favorite picnic or travel food. Tamarind rice packed in banana leaf has its own flavor. We also make it during Navaratri and adiperukku. Tamarind rice stays good for up to 24 hrs without refrigerating. The tamarind rice paste or the instant pulikaichal stays suitable for up to 1 week when refrigerated.

Speaking about tamarind rice recipes, I have one more easy one with aval or poha – puli aval. Do check it out as well. 

How to make quick tamarind rice-

Now let’s see how to make this tamarind rice with detailed step-wise pictures.

Prep-Work

Prepare the fenugreek powder-

• If you are not using store-bought fenugreek powder, roast about 2 tbsps of fenugreek seeds until they turn red. That’s the critical thing. If you don’t roast until they turn red, you can feel the stickiness when mixed with the rice, and the texture won’t be right. So roast it well. Let it cool and grind it. We need 1 tsp of the fenugreek powder for this recipe. 

Cook the rice –

• Cook the rice in your preferred way. I cooked 1 cup of sona masoori rice variety in a pressure cooker by adding 2 cups of water. I got about 5.5 cups of rice but used only 4 cups of cooked rice for this recipe. 
• Spread the rice on a plate and let it cool a bit. Add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil and mix it. 

Prepare the instant tamarind rice paste | pulikaichal

• Heat a heavy-bottomed vessel or kadai and add 3 tbsps of gingelly oil. 
• When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, and asafoetida. When the oil becomes frothy, add the dried red chilies and the peanuts. If the dried red chilies are big, break them into small pieces. (Gingelly oil always becomes frothy)
• Reduce the heat to low and fry them for two minutes and then add curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds.  
• Mix 2 tsps of tamarind paste with 1 cup of water and add this slowly to the tempering. You are adding water to the hot oil, so add slowly.
• Add salt, turmeric powder, rasam powder, and jaggery. Mix well and let it simmer for atleast 
• Let it simmer for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. 
• By now, tamarind paste will thicken and now add the methi powder and mix well. Let it cook for a minute and turn off the heat. 

That’s the puliodarai gojju mix ready. 

Make the tamarind rice | puliodarai

• Add the required amount of the prepare puliodarai gojju or the pulikaichal mix to the cooked and cooled down rice.

• Mix well and serve it with vadagam or chips or appalam.

Recipe Notes-

• Rasam powder is optional, but I highly recommend it. 
• I always tried this recipe with homemade fenugreek powder. Make sure to roast it thoroughly. Also, fenugreek powder is the key ingredient that adds all the flavor. So do not skip it.
• Adjust the dried red chilies, salt as per your preference.
• If using tamarind pulp, a gooseberry-sized or cherry tomato sized tamarind pulp would do. Soak it in hot water for 30 minutes and extract the juice. 

Other lunch box recipes from my archives-

• Black chickpeas and ivy gourd rice
• Veg pulav
• Bisibelebaath
• Zucchini Rice

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Quick Tamarind Rice | Homemade Instant Puliodarai

Quick and easy-to-make tamarind rice recipe! Perfect travel food and a fantastic lunch box recipe. Check out how to make this tamarind rice with the homemade instant pulikaichal mix.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Servings: 6

Calories: 298kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Equipment

• Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker to cook the rice
• Saucepan or kadai

Ingredients

Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;

• ▢ 4 tbsp gingelly oil divided
• ▢ 1 tsp mustard seeds
• ▢ 1 tsp urad dal
• ▢ 2 tsp chana dal
• ▢ 2 tbsp peanuts
• ▢ 10 curry leaves
• ▢ 5 dried red chilies
• ▢ ½ tsp asafoetida
• ▢ ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ▢ 2 tsps salt or to taste
• ▢ 1 tsp fenugreek powder
• ▢ 1 tsp jaggery powdered
• ▢ ½ tsp rasam powder optional
• ▢ 2 tsp tamarind paste
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ 4 cups cooked rice sona masoori rice variety

Instructions

Prepare the fenugreek powder-

• If you are not using store-bought fenugreek powder, roast about 2 tbsps of fenugreek seeds until they turn red. That's the critical thing. If you don't roast until they turn red, you can feel the stickiness when mixed with the rice, and the texture won't be right. So roast it well. Let it cool and grind it. We need 1 tsp of the fenugreek powder for this recipe.

Cook the rice –

• Cook the rice in your preferred way. I cooked 1 cup of sona masoori rice variety in a pressure cooker by adding 2 cups of water. I got about 5.5 cups of rice but used only 4 cups of cooked rice for this recipe.
• Spread the rice on a plate and let it cool a bit. Add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil and mix it.

Prepare the instant tamarind rice paste | pulikaichal

• Heat a heavy-bottomed vessel or kadai and add 3 tbsps of gingelly oil.
• When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, and asafoetida. When the oil becomes frothy, add the dried red chilies and the peanuts. If the dried red chilies are big, break them into small pieces. (Gingelly oil always becomes frothy)
• Reduce the heat to low and fry them for two minutes and then add curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds.
• Mix 2 tsps of tamarind paste with 1 cup of water and add this slowly to the tempering. You are adding water to the hot oil, so add slowly.
• Add salt, turmeric powder, rasam powder, and jaggery. Mix well and let it simmer for atleast
• Let it simmer for 10 minutes over medium-low heat.
• By now, tamarind paste will thicken and now add the methi powder and mix well. Let it cook for a minute and turn off the heat.
• That's the puliodarai gojju mix ready.

Make the tamarind rice | puliodarai

• Add the required amount of the prepare puliodarai gojju or the pulikaichal mix to the cooked and cooled down rice. Mix well and serve it with vadagam or chips or appalam.

Notes

• Rasam powder is optional, but I highly recommend it.
• I always tried this recipe with homemade fenugreek powder. Make sure to roast it thoroughly. Also, fenugreek powder is the key ingredient that adds all the flavor. So do not skip it.
• Adjust the dried red chilies, salt as per your preference.
• If using tamarind pulp, a gooseberry-sized or cherry tomato sized tamarind pulp would do. Soak it in hot water for 30 minutes and extract the juice.

Nutrition

Calories: 298kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 786mg | Potassium: 192mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 487IU | Vitamin C: 87mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 3mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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Update Notes- Recipe updated with step-wise pics and recipe cards in 2020.