That’s onam around the corner , for we Malayalees 🙂 And puli inji, vadukapuli achar , sharkkaravaratti are some items that we prepare ahead of the festive time.
Puli inji is sort of thick sweet sour spicy pickle served at the left corner of the sadya leaf (thooshanila) along with other pickles. Although the ingredients ,are simple one must dedicate some time when they are to make this.
You can either fry the ginger or not! Yes, you heard it. Frying ,helps to store it better (even for a year) .But,let me tell you even if you don’t fry it stores and tastes equally good. The measure given makes about 1 small cup of Puli inji towards the end. (Kindly check the notes, to know what to be done if using fried ginger.)
Puli inji -Makes 1 small cup
| ingredients | Qty |
| ginger pieced | 1/4 cup , finely chopped |
| jaggery | 1/4 cup, grated (use 1-2 teaspoon less if its very sweet) |
| Tamarind | 1 small lemon sized. Soak in 1/2 cup warm water |
| green chillies(optional) | 3-4, cut into thin rounds |
| Turmeric powder | 1/4 tsp |
| red chilli powder | 1/2 tsp( use 3/4-1 tsp if not using chillies) |
| water | 3/4-1 cup |
| mustard seeds | 1/2 tsp |
| dried red chillies | 2-3 , broke into halves |
| curry leaves | handful |
| coconut oil | 1 -2 tsp |
| salt | a pinch |
Method:
- Finely chop the ginger , you can also use a chopper and set aside.
- Soak the tamarind in water for 10 minutes and squeeze out the juice( it will be thick pulp like)
- Grate the jaggery and measure it in 1/4 cup ( I just scrape using a knife).
- In a heavy bottom pan, I used my Kalachatti (make sure to use deep bottom pan rather than a wide bottom, as it will spill while boiling) add the tamarind pulp along with 1 cup of water and give a mix.
- Let it have its first boil, that’s when you add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and give a mix too.
- Wait for it to boil once again, bring down the flame and add ginger( fried or otherwise ) and jaggery. Mix well to combine.
- Let it boil well in high flame and reduce after that. Let it simmer and thicken.
- Add a pinch of salt in between and continue to simmer .
- It will take around 20-30 minutes to get the thick consistency.
- Once it has achieved its thick paste like consistency, switch off. In another pan, add oil add mustard seeds once hot, red chillies and curry leaves. Pour the seasoning over the puli inji and mix well.
- Once cooled completetly , store in an airtight contianer and refreigerate.
Notes:
- for frying the ginger- either deep fry them or shallow fry them, you can also fry the green chillies. I recommend to chop ginger in that case and not grate.
- Adjust jaggery and tamarind according to your taste , this version is more sweet and not very tangy.
- Simmering is the key, don’t cheat on that.
- Not frying ginger was my choice 🙂 as I wanted to get the ginger flavor when biting:) Since we are boiling it well, it wont give much of ginger flavor.
- Adjust the sweetness and sourness accordingly, as it gets simmering.
until next time, happy cooking!!
lekshmi 🙂