Chinta Tokku Pulihora - చింత తొక్కు పులిహొర - Yellow Rice with Tamarind Pickle base - గాయత్రి వంటిల్లు

Ingredients:

• Preserved Chinta Tokku - 3Tbsps (75gms) {For Preserved Chinta Tokku Watch Chintakaya Pachhadi Recipe Click here}

• Rice – 1/2Cup (100gms)

• Bengal Gram – 1tsp

• Black Gram – 1/2tsp

• Mustard Seeds – 1/4tsp

• Fenugreek Seeds – 7Seeds

• Pea Nuts – 1Tbsp

• Cashew Nuts – 5

• Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp

• Asafetida – 1/2Of 1/8tsp

• Curry Leaves – 1Sprig

• Red Chilies – 2

• Green Chilies – 10 (Small) (Spicy Variety)

• Salt – To Taste (If Required)

• Oil – 2Tbsps

(Online Conversion utility to convert Gms to Cups & Temperatures etc)

Preparations:

Heat a pan and add 1/2Tbsp oil and heat it. Wash rice and add to oil in the pan and fry stirring till oil is nicely coated on all grains and the rice freely moves in the pan. Add the fried rice to rice cooker bowl and add 250ml water (for one cup of rice, add 21/2cups water). Switch on the rice cooker and cook rice till done. Remove the rice cooker bowl from the machine and keep it aside for few minutes. Spread the rice in a wide plate or a basin.

Take 50ml water in a microwave safe bowl and add chinta tokku and mix. Place the bowl of chinta tokku in microwave oven and cook on high flame for a minute or till mixture starts boiling. Remove the bowl from microwave oven and cool the mixture for a while. Now grind the cooked chinta tokku mixture to a smooth paste adding 50ml water. Strain the ground paste through a large holed strainer and remove the rough pith. Then pass the mixture through a fine holed strainer and extract smooth pulp.

Wash green chilies and cut them vertically into 4 pieces. Break red chilies each into two pieces.

Break cashew nuts into small pieces.

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil and heat oil. When oil is hot add cashew nut pieces and fry stirring on low flame till they turn golden in color. Take the fried cashew pieces from oil using a slotted ladle and add to the rice. Now add peanuts in the remaining oil and fry stirring till they crackle and remove from oil and add to rice. In the remaining oil add fenugreek leaves, bengal gram and black gram and fry stirring till seeds start changing color. Then add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Then add curry leaves, asafetida and green chili pieces and fry stirring till chilies turn crisp. Then add red chili pieces and fry stirring till they are crisp. Add prepared chinta tokku pulp and cook stirring for two minutes till moisture evaporates from the mixture and mixture is semi dry. Switch off flame and add turmeric powder to the mixture and mix. Add the prepared seasoning to the rice and mix everything well with fingers to coat each grain of rice with the spices. Taste the rice for adjusting salt---if required add required amount of salt and mix well. Keep the bowl covered for one hour and then serve.

Points To Observe:

Chinta tokku is a mixture of crushed raw tamarind, salt and turmeric powder. That is the reason we have not added salt to the rice and add it if required only.

Raw tamarind (CHINTAKAYA) has a different taste compared to tamarind fruit (CHINTA PANDU). Raw tamarind has that crunchy flavor. Though this rice preparation is same as chintapandu pulihora, the taste slightly differs.

Fry rice in small amount of oil till all grains are well coated with a film of oil. Then add water and cook in rice cooker. This way each grain would be long and separate. Here I have added 1/2Tbsp oil to the water and rice mixture in rice cooker and cooked rice---what I have observed is cooked rice stuck at the bottom of the bowl and a small portion got wasted---and also the grains are not as big as mentioned in the first case. Usually when I make jeera rice I fry rice in oil and then cook in rice cooker and the quality of cooked rice is long grained and better taste. So follow the method mentioned in the procedure and cook rice.

Cook chinta tokku in microwave oven or on stove top till it turns soft.

While making chinta tokku I have not peeled the raw tamarinds and hence the crushed outer shell would be rough---so strain the ground pulp and remove this rough portion. Again strain the pulp through a fine sieve to get a smooth pulp so that while eating it doesn’t hamper. When we eat chintakaya pachhadi we even enjoy the rough portion of raw tamarind---so if it doesn’t bother one, one may just use as it is.

Adding turmeric powder in hot oil of the seasoning mixes well and brings out nice color. And when this seasoning is added to rice that color evenly coats the grains of rice.

While cooking tamarind pulp in the seasoning, it splatters a lot. Keep a plate as guard and cook so that it doesn’t make a mess around.

Remember to fry green chili pieces in oil well so that they do not taste hot. Do not remove green chili pieces while eating the pulihora.

The fried green chili pieces when cooked in tamarind pulp absorb the flavors and do not taste spicy at all---rather they taste good.

Make the pulihora ahead and serve after one hour for better taste. In that one hour all flavors get mingled well and pulihora tastes excellent.

Chinta tokku puylihora is a variation from chintapandu pulihora with a taste of its own.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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