When Preeti asked me for this recipe here , I gave a detailed search for this recipe. I got a few links in the internet. But the ‘huli (sour)’ part stopped me by trying this. I like sore dishes, but I thought it is better to avoid lot of tamarind during summer (sour dishes kick start migraine and acidity). But when she again requested it here , I cannot stop trying it. Not having tasted it anytime, I was wondering how the dish would turn out. Then I tried it and Mmmmmmm…it had amazing taste. (This dish was not very sour). Thanks Preeti for letting me know about this amazing dish.
When I googled, I came to know, this dish is also called as ‘puli aval’ in Tamil. There were lot of different versions available. I went ahead with the simplest of them.
Ingredients: Poha (avalakki) 1 cup Tamarind 1 and ½ tea spn (If using the ready-made extract, ½ tea spn) Jaggery(optional) ¾ tea spn Green chillies 2-3 Mustard seeds ½ tea spn Urad dal ½ tea spn Curry leaves 4-5 Chana dal 1 tea spn Pea nuts 1 tbl spn Asafoetida a pinch Coconut(optional) 1 tbl spn Oil 1 tea spn Salt
I used the poha of medium thickness. Some of the links mentioned about adding sesame powder (coarsely powdered sesame seeds) or rasam powder, but I did not use it.
Method: Make a thick tamarind paste with 1tbl spn of water. Mix jaggery. Wash poha, drain water and add the tamarind-jaggery mixture and mix thoroughly ( Some people coarsely powder dry poha and then add the tamarind-jaggery mixture ). Leave it aside for about half an hour. Heat oil and add pea nuts. Fry for some time. Then add chana dal, when it turns slightly brownish, add urad dal and mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the poha (which would have soaked the tamarind mixture and become soft), salt and mix. Garnish with coconut. Serve hot.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 10min (excluding the soaking time)
When we were kids, my mom always prepared idlis in a large quantity. On the first day, she would serve it with sambar and chutney. Usually in Konkani homes, either sambar or chutney was served with idlis, but at our home, my brother used to prefer chutney and I preferred sambar. We used to throw a tantrum, if my mom obliged to one of us. She had to listen “you love him/her more than me, so you always listen what he/she wants” :). So she would prepare both to keep both of us satisfied. It became so much of a habit that, we both learnt eating idli with sambar and chutney. Now it has become a habit of eating both, we complain if one of them is not served with idli :D.
For the evening snack, she would shallow-fry the remaining idlis(I will post her recipe of shallow fry soon). If still some of the idlis remained, she would store them in refrigerator and prepare upma on the next day (the refrigerated idlis become a bit hard, so they dont taste as good as the fresh ones). Though as a kid I didn’t like this upma much, I absolutely love it now. Its the best dish, one could think of, out of hard idlis. I make this dish even on the first day itself, when I screw up the idli batter and get very hard idlis :).
The picture is taken by my brother and sis-in-law. They took it when they prepared this dish in Bangalore.
Ingredients: Idlis 7-8 Mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn Green chilies 2-3 Curry leaves 4-5 Asafoetida a pinch Turmeric a pinch Coconut(optional) 1 tbl spn Coriander leaves(optional) 2-3 strands Oil 1 tea spn Salt
Method: Powder the idlis with hand. There should not be big lumps. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping up, add curry leaves, asafoetida, green chillies. Fry a bit. Add turmeric and powdered idlis. Mix well. If required, add salt (Idlis will have salt, so be careful while adding extra salt). Garnish with coconut and chopped coriander leaves.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 7-8mins
