Puli Inji (Fried ginger in tamarind sauce)

What runs through your mind when you say looking forward to celebrating Onam? Well, for me it is the sense evoking spicy, sour, tangy, sweet treats we have in the noontime called Onam Sadhya. The colourful array of mix and match curries sitting pristinely in the green plantain leaf palette. Huh! it is a divine pleasure and once a year indulgence for all the Malayalis out there. 

My all time favourite Puli inji is a sweet, tangy, spicy, saucy, finger licking goodness categorized as thodu curry (served in small portions).

Recipe Source: Adapted from Cooking at Mayflower

Ingredients:-

Ginger   chopped        -     1 cup

Green    chillies           -     10 nos

Tamarind                    -     Size of one lemon

Red chilli powder        -    1  tsp

Turmeric powder        -    1 /4   tsp

Mustard   seeds          -    1 tsp

Fenugreek  seeds        -    1 tsp

Jaggery                       -    5 tsp or (according  to taste)

Curry   leaves              -    few sprigs

Salt

Oil

Directions:-

Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water, extract the thick juice, and keep aside.

Roast fenugreek seeds, powder it, and keep aside.

Heat oil  in a thick bottom pan.  Add mustard seeds, then curry leaves. Now add chopped ginger and fry till golden brown. Add thick tamarind extract, chilli  powder, turmeric powder, and salt. Bring  it to a boil in high heat. Keep on low flame for around 10 to 15 minutes (for me it took 10 minutes) or as desired to get rid of the raw smell of tamarind and to get a thick gravy. Add jaggery according to your taste, (make sure to taste the sweetness as you go to make it super sweet or less sweet as you like it) and allow it to boil, then add fenugreek powder. Once it reaches a thick consistency and oil starts floating on the surface, remove from  heat. Store in a glass or ceramic container in the fridge.