Pulihora ( Lemon Rice)

Pulihora tastes sour, spicy, hot and salty at the same time. It is considered to be a good stimulant for a dull appetite. It is easy to cook, inexpensive and is filling.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of white rice
• 2 tbsp lemon juice ( adjust according to your taste)
• 1 small finely chopped onion
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 2 green chilies
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 whole dry red chillies
• 1 tsp chana dal
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal (skinned split black beans)
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• a pinch of asafetida powder
• 5-6 cashew nuts or 1 tbsp groundnuts
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Method:

• Soak rice for ½ an hour. Boil about 8 cups of water in a big pan. Add uncooked soaked rice and little salt when water starts boiling. Cook till rice is just done. Strain the rice and keep aside to cool. Make sure it does not turn mushy.
• Roast the fenugreek seeds and 2-3 dry chillies in a small pan. Grind them to a powder and keep aside for later use ( You can use ready made pulihora powder available in the market if you don’t have time to prepare, but you will be compromising with the freshness of the flavour).
• Heat oil in a wok . Splutter mustard seeds, add urad dal and chana dal and fry for a few seconds.
• Add 2 dry red chillies, turmeric powder, chopped onions, curry leaves, green chilies and cashew nuts. Continue frying for a minute.
• Add asafetida and immediately add cooked rice.
• Mix in fenugreek-chili powder and fry on low flame for another minute. Remove from fire.
• Stir in lemon juice.
• Serve with pickle or chutney or curry. I Love garlic pickle with it.

Do You Know?

'Puli' means 'sour' taste, thus Pulihora roughly translates as 'sour rice'. It is a common preparation of rice in South Indian Cuisine . It is also known as tamarind rice or lemon rice

In Andhra Pradesh it is called as Pulihora or Chitrannam, in Tamil Nadu it is called as "puliyodharai" and in Karnataka it is called as "puliyogare".

This dish is cooked as a holiday dish and during festivals. It is also distributed in temples as Prasad.

Pulihora is a common travel diet for Andhra people because it can be stored for a couple of days without getting spoiled.