Gongura Rice/ Gongura Pulihora

Gongura Rice/ Gongura Pulihora

In South India we make a lot of one pot meal which is easy to make and packed with flavours. 

Gongura Rice is a spicy, tangy delicious variety rice which is a perfect for Lunch Box.

There are two varieties of Gongura one is green leaves with maroon stems (red sorrel leaves) and another one is green leaves with green stem. 

The red sorrel leaves are more tangy / sour in taste. In Tamil it is called as 'Pullicha keerai,'.

Today I'm using red sorrel leaves (Gongura) to make Gongura rice. In this recipe I' ve included a small marble size tamarind which gives a nice flavour to the rice...and also a little jaggery as it balances the spices and tangyness and enhances the taste.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 1.5 cups

Gongura / red sorrel leaves - 1 bunch

Peanuts - 1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Channa dal - 1 tsp

Urud dal - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Red chilli - 2 nos

Gingerly oil - 2.5 tablespoons

Asafatedia - 1/4 tsp

Jaggery powder - 1 tsp

Salt to taste.

Roasted powder:

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Corriader seeds - 1 tsp

White sesame seeds - 1.5 tsp

Red chilli - 3-4 nos

Method:

# In a pan dry roast mustard, methi seeds, corriader seeds, red chilli, tamarind and white sesame one after another. Allow it to cool down completely.

# Wash and rinse gongura leaves.

# Heat a pan add one tsp of oil, add gongura leaves and fry for 3-4 minutes or until it becomes soft in texture. Allow it to cool.

# Make a powder of roasted ingredients.

# Make a fine paste of fried gongura leaves.

# Heat a pan add oil, fry peanuts, add mustard seeds let it splutter well add urud dal, channa dal, red chillies and wait till it slightly changes its colour. 

# Add gongura paste, grounded spice powder, turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida and cook well. It takes 7-8 minutes on medium flame for gongura paste to cook. Once oil seperates from pan and gongura paste becomes thick like pickle add jaggery powder mix well switch off the flame.

#Add little salt and 1 tablespoon of gingerly oil to cooked rice and mix well.

# Add 1/2 of gongura paste to the rice, mix well. Do not break the rice. Add oil as required while mixing gongura paste and rice. If needed add more of gongura paste or else you can store the paste in an airtight container.

Gongura Rice is ready to serve. 

Please do try and provide your comments.