Gongura puliyodharai

After a long time, I am joining the Blogging Marathon again, this time with Festival Special dishes as my theme for the week. Though the festival that has been chosen is Diwali, I am going to be starting with something new that I tried out during Navaratri and felt that it is good enough to be offered as prasadam. 

I have often seen gongura (sorrel leaves) in markets in India and now here in the US. However, the only form in which I have tasted it is the bottled Priya Gongura pickle and to me, all Priya pickles taste and smell the same.

 Recently, spurred on by my friend, I bought a bunch of these leaves with absolutely no idea as to what to do with it. I plucked one and ate it and realized that it was tart enough to be used as a substitute for tamarind.  That's how the idea to use it to make puliyodharai was born. In fact, in this particular dish, the term puliyodharai is a misnomer, as no puli (tamarind) has been used.

A little bit of google-ing told me that not many people had tried out this idea. However, Sailu had a recipe here, which I modified to my taste.

What you need:

Rice - 1 cup, cooked and cooled
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp (I used gingely oil, but any oil you regularly use/like will work)
Salt
Peanuts - a fistful

To fry :
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Dhania seeds - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Red chilli - 2
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Gongura leaves(washed) - 2 cups packed tight

Spread the cooked rice to cool. Add turmeric powder and 2 tsp of oil to it and set aside.
Heat a tsp of oil. In it, fry on low heat, the urad dal, chana dal, dhania, curry leaves, red chillies, and mustard. Set aside. Fry the washed gongura leaves in the same pan on a low flame till wilted. Let it cool.
Powder the fried spices to a coarse powder. Add the gongura and grind again to a paste without adding any water. Add this to the rice in small quantities and mix well. Add required amount of salt and mix. Top with some more curry leaves. Fry a fistful of peanuts in a teaspoon of oil and mix it into the rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45