Pulihora – Tamarind rice

Cooked Rice seasoned with tamarind paste and other ingredients, usually made as Nivedhyam for temples.

Ingredients:
rice – 2 cups cooked.
Tamarind paste – 4 tablespoons
curry leaves – 3-4 leaves
mustard seeds – 1 tblspoon
hing/inguva – ½ tblspoon
greenhillies – 3-4 slit
minapappu – 2 tblspoons
senagapappu – 2 tblspoons
red/dried chillies – 2
salt – according to taste
turmeric – 1 tblspoon
oil – 2 tblspoons
Peanuts (Optional) – ½ cup
Coriander leaves – 2 stalks for garnishing
Methi powder( roasted/raw)(Optional) – ½ tblspoons 

Preparation:
1. Soak tamarind in hot water and make a thick paste by squeezing.Filter to remove stones and debris. Set this aside.
2. Cook 2 cups of rice without getting mushy and let it cool. Spread rice in a bowl.

Method:

1. Add oil to a pan and heat it. Add mustard seeds and let them spluter.
2. Add  Inguva(Hing), menthi powder, minapappu/urad dal , senagapappu(chana dal) ,peanuts till  they turn golden.
3. Add curry leaves,  green chilies and red chilies and turmeric powder. Fry everything well. 
4.  remove the contents and transfer them to the cooled rice  and mix well.
5. In the same pan, add oil and add tamarind paste and salt to it.
6. Keep the flame medium and cook the tamarind paste until it becomes thick. You can add some of the greenchillies in the tamarind paste as well. They taste good.
7. Once the tamarind paste gets thick, add this paste to rice and mix well. 
8. Gently Mix all the contents well with rice. Make sure there are no lumps of white rice unmixed.
9. Add chopped coriander leaves.

Upma (South Indian Breakfast with Bombay Rava)

Serves: 2  People

Ingredients:

Upma rava( bombay rava or Sooji) - 1 rice up full

Oil - 4 tbsp

Curry Leaves - 2

Ginger - small pieceGarlic - 1 piece (Optional)

Cumin and Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp eachTomatoes - 1 small size finely chopped(Optional)

Bengal gram seeds - 2 spoons

Groundnuts  - 3 tablespoons

Onion  - 1 medium finely chopped

Asfoetida (Inguva)- pinch

Green Chilli - 2/3 pieces

Coriander Leaves - as required

Salt - as required

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin, mustard , Asfoetida(Inguva), Bengal gram seeds,curry leaves and fry them. Put the stove in medium level.

2. Add  mashed garlic, mashed ginger, green chilli and ground nuts and fry them for 2 minutes until the raw ginger and raw garlic smell is gone. 

3. Now Add the chopped onion and the stir well and fry until the chopped onion is cooked well  for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes and stir until tomatoes are cooked well.

5.  Add 1.5 cups of water to this ingredients and add rava to it. mix and stir well and then close the lid( put flame on medium) for 2 minutes.

6. remove the lid and mix well, you will see tiny holes forming from the rava paste. Also, you will see that the rava is boiled completely. ( if you feel they are not boiled, ad just quarter glass of water only).

7. Once the rava is completely cooked. You can add fried cashews for extra garnishing. Add chopped coriander on top of this. 

8. Turn the stove off and the receipe is ready.

Note : Best served during breakfast time as cooking time is almost 5 minutes