The lean veggie - Something like Puliyodharai

Puliyodharai is one of the most loved south indian foods. I did not have all the ingredients, but desperately craved its incredible tangy taste. So, I took my friend's recipe and made a few changes. The result was pretty good. Having run out of cashews and peanuts, I used boiled black channa instead. It sounds unusual, but goes very well with the rest of the ingredients, and ofcourse, it is a great source of protein and much lower in fat than regular nuts. This is a two step recipe. You prepare the spicy tamarind paste - pulikaachal. You can then bottle this and use as a chutney/spread/pickle, or mix a few tablespoons into some steamed rice and make puliyodharai. When refrigerated, the pulikaachal keeps well for days.

Ingredients for the paste:

* 1 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
* 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
* Dried red chillies - 4
* Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
* Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
* Black pepper corns - 1/4 tsp

Heat 1 tsp oil in a non stick pan, add all the ingredients except the fenugreek and sesame seeds and fry till you get a nice aroma from the coriander. Add the fenugreek and sesame seeds and fry till they brown. Make sure they do not burn, these fry up rapidly. Empty into a blender. Cool thoroughly and then blend into a fine paste.

Other ingredients:

Black channa - Soaked overnight and pressure cooked till soft - about 1/2 a cup (this is optional, can be substituted with peanuts or cashewnuts). You can soak a good quantity, use a portion for making sundal, another for channa masala, and use the rest in this recipe. Even better when sprouted.
Light brown tamarind paste - 2 tbsp mixed in half cup of water
Curry leaves - About 10
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Dried red chillies - 2
Cooked rice - About 2 cups of raw rice, cooked with 6 cups of water. Use sona masoori or ponni for best results, and make sure each grain of rice is soft, but firm. Spread on a wide plate to cool.
Hing/Perungayam - 1/4 tsp

Instructions for making the pulikaachal:

1) Heat 2 tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds and splutter
2) Add curry leaves, red chillies, and fenugreek seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the channa (or the nuts) and stir fry for 1 minute
3) Immediately add the tamarind paste and stir
4) Add the hing and turmeric powders and prepared paste
5) Add salt (to taste, atleast 1 tsp. check and add more)
6) Boil on a medium flame for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Wait till the water has evaporated
7) Remove from flame.

Bottle the pulikaachal when cool. To prepare puli saadham, take the required quantity of rice in a bowl, add a little salt, 1 tbsp of sesame oil if available, and mix in a few teaspoons of pulikaachal till the rice is uniformly brown. There are no exact proportions - you can mix a little, then taste the rice, if too bland, then mix in some more paste. This is a great tiffin dabba filler!