If there's one side dish that can steal the spotlight on a traditional South Indian sadya, it's Inchi Puli, also known as Pulinji. Made predominantly with ginger (Inchi) and tamarind (Puli), this tangy, spicy, and slightly sweet relish is an explosion of flavor. A spoonful is enough to jolt your taste buds awake, it's not just a side dish but an experience.
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Why will you love Inchipuli (inji puli)?
- Ginger is an essential part of this dish, and we already know the great benefits of this wonderful root.
- This side dish enhances the sadya and is delicious.
- It can be prepared and stored for about two to three weeks.
- The combination of ginger, tamarind, jaggery, and spices works brilliantly and gives a unique sweet, sour, tangy, and spicy flavor that enlivens all your tastebuds and is hard to resist one helping after another.
- This awesome relish/chutney/curry is part of the traditional sadya, prepared during festivals and served along pacha payar thoran, beetroot pachadi, Kerala Sadhya Olan, and Aviyal Kerala Style.
Ingredients needed
- Tamarind soaked in warm water, extract the juice from this and keep aside.
- Finely chopped ginger, garlic, green chilies, shallots, curry leaves, and dried red chilies.
- Roasted and Powdered rice, fenugreek, mustard seeds, and cumin.
- Jaggery is a great sweetner and is also used in making Neyyappam, Ela Ada and Cheupayar parippu payasam.
- Vegetable or Avocado oil
- Spices like turmeric and red chili powder.
How to make Inchipuli?
Cook the chopped veggies and tamarind extract
First, we start by tempering mustard seeds in oil with dry red chilies and adding the chopped ginger, garlic, shallots, curry leaves, and green chilies. Sautee until transparent. Add the spices, turmeric red chili powder, and salt. Add the tamarind extract and boil till the raw taste of the tamarind is gone.
Thickening the relish with unique flavors
Dry roast the mustard, matta rice, fenugreek seeds, cumin, and powder when cooled. Add the powder to the tamarind extract and keep boiling until it starts to thicken into a thick relish. Store in a glass container when it cools.
- Step 1: Chop all the veggies into small pieces.
- Step 2: Temper mustard seeds and red chilies in oil.
- Step 3: Add the chopped veggies
- Step 4: Add the spices and curry leaves and sautee well
- Step 5: Add extracted tamarind juice, jaggery, and salt, and continue to boil.
- Step 6:Roast the mustard, fenugreek, cumin, and red rice and powder it.
- Step 7: Add the roasted powder to the tamarind curry, and it will start to thicken up. Switch off flame when done.
- Step 8: Transfer to a serving bowl.
Related Recipes
If you tried this InchiPuli Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing from you!
InchiPuli
Ingredients
For the Puliinchi gravy
- 3 big tamarind lemon sized balls -soaked in water and pulp extracted
- 4 green chilies finely chopped
- 3 big pods garlic finely cut
- 5 tbsp ginger finely cut
- 5-6 shallots cut into small bits
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 2 red chillies dry
- 1 cup jaggery (add more depending on the sweetness you prefer)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
To dry roast and powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 3 tbsp rice broken matta rice or raw
Instructions
- Keep the chopped shallots, red chilies, green chilies, ginger, garlic, and curry leaves ready.
- Take a deep bottomed pan and heat about 3-4 tbsp oil.
- Splutter mustard and dry red chillies.
- Add chopped shallots, red chilies, green chilies, ginger, garlic, and curry leaves
- Add the turmeric and chilly powder and fry for about 5 minutes
- Add the extracted tamarind pulp and water
- When it comes to a boil and the raw smell disappears, add jaggery.
- Add salt and continue boiling it.
- Meanwhile, dry roast all the ingredients in the "To dry roast and powder" section
- Once roasted and cooled, powder it a fine consistency
- Add the powder to the tamarind ginger relish that is cooking
- The relish will start thickening on adding the roasted powder
- Check the taste and add more jaggery if you prefer more sweetness
- Adjust the spice and salt as per your liking and switch off the flame
- Pulinchi is ready to be served.
- That is it, All you need is some All you need is some dal and rice.
This is one of the best recipes that I made for sadya and my go-to recipe whenever i make this. A great blend of sourness, spice and sweetness makes this a delight to the tastebuds.
Thank you!
Very delicious. Thanks fpr this great recipe!
Very delicious!
Thank you Latha!
Can have this with just about anything! yummm! feel like dipping my finger in it and licking away 😉 Love!
Thank you dear! so nice to read your comments ..
MOuth watering.
Thank you Moushmi!
Completely mouthwatering...felt the urge to try it as i saw the recipe..
Thank you Anshu! Hope you will try it and like it as well 🙂
Ya i will try it soon and will definitely let you know how it came out..!!
One of our favorite..we eat even idli , dosa or chapati with ingipuli😊...
oh that's awesome!
Drooling, when I think of flavours 🙂
Thanks Priya! the combination of flavors are indeed unique
☺️👍
Wow! really mouth-watering!
Thank you Megala! sweet and sour has that affect on me as well 🙂
Ginger & tamarind, a wonderful combo!
yes indeed its a traditional recipe .Thank you:)
Making my mouth water 🙂
Thank you ! hope you will try it out some time 🙂
Surely!