Aava Pettina Pulihora |Andhra Style Tamarind Rice

Aava Pettina Pulihora, an Andhra style tamarind rice. A mixed rice recipe, made with cooked tamarind sauce and rice.

The Recipe

Aava Pettina Pulihora, Aavalu means mustard seeds in telegu,mustard seeds are roasted, pounded and added to the tamarind rice, that renders a unique flavor to the dish. Some might not prefer the flavor of mustard in the rice, but it is highly recommended. If you love aavakkai, the deliciously spicy mango pickle, then you will love this rice too. 

If you have cooked rice ready, then this recipe is just a breeze. All you need is to cook the tamarind to a saucy consistency with some delicious tempering. The aroma of the tempering itself will make you hungry. I made this for my lunch today and kept a portion for my hubby and kid. Both loved it to the core. The flavors develop well, if you rest the rice for more time. So, i usually make it ahead and let it rest well for atleast 4 hours minimum.

How to make Aava Pettina Pulihora

Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes and extract juice. The quantiy of the ingredients are given in the recipe card below. Dry roast mustard seeds in a pan, pound it and keep aside.

Cook rice nice and fluffy and set aside. In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves , dals, peanuts and the chilies. Now add the tamarind extract to this tempering and let it cook to a saucy consistency.

Add this cooked tamarind paste to the rice and mix. Adjust salt and add the pounded mustard seeds to it. Mix well. The amound of tamarind paste depends on ones personal taste. We prefer more tamarind sauce in the rice.

Any leftover tamarind paste, can be refrigerated and used later. Pulihora is a wonderful travel food. We used to pack pulihora for a train travels that last for 2-3 days. As the rice with this tangy paste stays pretty good in room temperature for longer time.

Since the pulihora is a no onion and no garlic dish, this mixed rice recipe is much prefered during festivities as offerings. This delicious tamarind rice is part of Pongal Festival menu.

Aava Pettina Pulihora | Andhra Style Tamarind Rice

Aava Pettina Pulihora, an Andhra style tamarind rice. A mixed rice recipe, made with cooked tamarind sauce and rice.

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Course: Brunch, Festival, Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Indian, South-Indian

Keyword: Andhra pulihora, Andhra style puliyodharai, Easy mixed rice recipe, Lunch box recipe, Pulihora recipe, Puliyodharai recipe, Tamarind rice recipe, Travel food

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories:

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked rice
• a lemon sized ball of tamarind
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• salt to taste

Tempering

• ¼ cup sesame oil/gingely oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ⅛ teaspoon hing/asafoetida
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 tablespoon chana dal
• 2 tablespoon urad dal
• 3 tablespoon peanuts
• 4 nos red chilies broken into two
• 2 nos green chilies slit lenghtwise
• a sprig of curry leaf

Instructions

• In a pan, dry roast the mustard seeds given under "Ingredients", powder it in a mortar-pestle. keep it aside until use.
• Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water and keep aside for 15 minutes. After the said time, extract juice from it and keep ready.
• In a pan, add oil, splutter mustard seeds, add hing, red chilies and green chilies, followed by chana dal and urad dal, peanuts. Let the dal turn golden.
• Pour the tamarind extract on the tempering and let it cook for 8-10 minutes. By the end of 10 minutes it should thicken and become saucy and oil should separate. Take it off the stove.
• Spread the cooked rice on a wide plate, Add 4-5 tablespoon of tamarind mix to the rice, mix well.
• Add powdered mustard and salt. Mix well. Check the taste and add more paste if needed.
• Any remaining paste can be refrigerated. I love my pulihora little more saucy, so added all the paste and enjoyed it with Bittergourd fry for my lunch. 

I served this delicious aava pettina pulihora with Bittergourd subzi for our lunch. You can also serve it just with appalam/pappadam. This is one dish that makes many south-indians drool the moment they hear the name.

More Mixed Rice Recipes

• Araiacha Puli saadham
• Coconut Rice
• Lemon Rice

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An old recipe from january 2017, updated with new content for better engagement.