Puli Inji

Ingredients:

Tamarind                    --  a small lemon size ball
Water                            --  1 cup
Ginger                           --  Around half a cup of chopped ginger
Garlic                            --  3 big cloves    
Shallots                        --  2 medium size
Green Chillies            --  4 - 5
Turmeric powder    --   1/4 tsp
Chilly powder           --   1/2 tsp
Fenugreek                  --  1/2 tsp
Rice                               --  1 tsp
Jaggery                       --  2 small blocks/cylinders
Mustard seeds          --  1 tsp
Curry leaves             --  1 twig
Red Chillies               --  1 - 2
Salt                               --  as  required
Oil                                 --  2 - 3 tbsp

Preparation of Puli Inji:

Soak the tamarind in water for 10 - 15 min.Squeeze the pulp of the tamarind in the water. Strain it and keep aside.

Roughly chop the ginger, garlic, shallots and green chillies. Fry them in oil until they are half cooked. Let it cool and then grind it into a coarse paste.

Add the salt,turmeric and chilly powder to the tamarind water and let it boil. Add the ground paste and jaggery and mix well. You can also melt the jaggery before and add the liquid to this mix. I am usually lazy to melt is before and hence add the whole block into this boiling water mix.

Do not close the pan and keep stirring too.

Meanwhile dry roast the fenugreek and rice and then grind them into fine powder.Add this powder to the tamarind mix, when it is about to reach the required consistency. Switch off the flame. This thickens as it cools.

Heat oil in a shallow pan. Splutter the mustard seeds, add the red chillies and curry leaves. Pour this on to the puli inji along with the oil left in the pan.

The balance between the tamarind & jaggery  and the required consistency depends upon personal taste. So do accordingly. I love it to be really thick and hence I do let it dry as show in the picture.

This can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time. The above measure yields me a 200gm Bru bottle.This can be served with sadya or with biriyani. I know people who love to have this with idly too.