Puli Inji Recipe |How to do Kerala style Puli Inji|Puli Inji recipe with step by step photos | How to do Inji Puli | Kerala style Ginger Curry | Shunti Gojju
Puli Inji or Inji Curry is a classic dish from Kerala, an integral part of most Onam Sadya. Its spicy, tangy, slightly sweetish and bursting with perfectly balanced flavours. Hot rice, ghee plus puli inji ..such an irresistible combo. I love it with curd rice too.
What is Puli Inji ??
“Puli” means Tamarind and “Inji” is known as Ginger. It is a traditional instant pickle or condiment popular in Kerala cuisine. It’s sweet, sour and spicy. To balance the sourness and spiciness, jaggery is added. It also provides a nice thick consistency to the gojju.
The primary ingredient of this curry is Ginger. As per Ayurveda, Ginger has got a lot of health benefits like it aids digestion thus relieves indigestion; it is an effective cure for congestion, sore throat, cold and cough; it is used in the treatment of asthma and other respiratory problems; treats dizziness, nausea, vomiting,.. etc.
Since ginger aids digestion, this puli inji is always a part of any elaborate Onam special meal. It’s super easy to make puli inji and hence i don’t restrict the dish only for Onam :). One can make any time and relish. And the best part about this dish, it tastes more delicious as it matures, i.e its tastier tomorrow than served freshly made today !! One can call, puli inji as an instant pickle.
Few points to note while making Puli Inji :
- Use tender variety of ginger. You can grate or mince or finely slice the ginger.
- Can be stored for 2-3 weeks when refrigerated.Store in a clean dry container. It actually tastes better second or third day than when made.
- You can relish it with dosa, idli , pesarattu too .
- Be generous with chilli powder, tamarind and ginger for a best-tasting puli inji. Adjust the spices according to your preference.
- Traditionally, gingelly oil/coconut oil is used while making it. However, if you don’t like, you may use any oil of your choice.
- The colour of the puli inji depends on the variety of tamarind used. Dark color tamarind makes best puli inji.
So are you ready to jot down the recipe of this lipsmacking condiment..here you go !!
you can also check Ginger Tambli, Ginger Chutney, Ulli Theeyal...
Puli Inji
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Fresh Ginger, finely chopped
- 2-3 tbsp Gingelly Oil / Coconut Oil / Any Oil
- lemon size Tamarind
- a tsp Mustard
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds / Methi Seeds
- 1-2 nos Red Chilly, Broken
- few Curry leaves
- 2-4 nos Green Chillies, Split
- a big pinch Hing / Asafoetida
- a tsp Turmeric / Haldi
- a tbsp Red Chilli Powder
- 3-4 tbsp Jaggery
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Soak lemon size tamarind in hot water for 10-15 mins.
- Wash, peel and finely chop the ginger.
- To a deep Kadai / pan, add gingelly oil /coconut oil / any oil that you wanna use.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds. Splutter and add broken red chillies and curry leaves.
- Add split green chillies and finely chopped ginger. Saute for 2-3 min.
- Add hing, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and jaggery.
- Continue to cook till the ginger looks completely fried and shrinks in quantity.
- Add tamarind extract. Bring to a boil.Continue to cook till it starts to thicken.
- The pickle will slowly start to thicken as the jaggery melts and starts getting caramelized texture.Keep stirring the pickle at regular interval until it has become thick and sort of deep dark caramel texture.Switch off and allow to cool.
- Puli Inji is ready. Enjoy it with hot rice and ghee/ curd rice .You can store them in clean dry container and use for weeks.
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