Puliyogare / Tamarind rice

In southern India any festival is incomplete without this dish. It is one of those dishes which is very frequently served in many temples as an offering/ prasadam. It is a spicy tangy preparation and is widely eaten as a breakfast too. It is very popular in Tamil and Telugu households...
Tamarind – ¾ cup
Jaggery - 1 tsp ground
1 cup warm water
Powder
½ tsp methi seeds
1 tsp dhaniya seeds
½ tsp black pepper
Dry roast all the above ingredients and make a powder in a blender.
For tempering
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Dry Red chilies – 8-10 ( according to the spice that you can handle ) broken into small peices
Curry leaves – 15
Chana dal – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Asafetida powdered - 1/4 tsp ( use less if using the hard and dark variety )
Oil – 10 tsps
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish.
Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of warm water for 15 minutes and pulse it in a blender to get a thick paste, run it through a sieve and Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter, add the asafetida, then add red chilies, chana dal, urad dal and fry for about 1 minute, add curry leaves, then add the tamarind pulp. Boil it till the oil starts separating ( about 10 minutes on low flame ), then add the powder made of methi dhaniya and pepper, stir and cook for another 5 minutes add salt according to taste.

Cook 2 cups of rice in 3 ¾ cups of water. Do not mush the rice as each grain needs to be separate. Mix the prepared past according to taste, garnish with coriander leaves.