Puli Inji

Inji puli is a pickle that is a must in a Kerala Sadya. As all of you know, most of the Kerala dishes are influenced by regional variations. As far as I know, this dish has two major variations and is called by two different names in the Southern and Northern part of Kerala – Inji Curry and Puli Inji. As we both are from the South, we have already posted the recipe for inji curry here. Inji curry is usually spicier than puli inji and the taste of ginger predominates the sweet and sour taste of jaggery and tamarind . But in the case of puli inji there is a balance of sweet and sour elements and the taste of ginger does not dominate them and it is way sweeter than our inji curry.The main ingredients of this dish are ginger, green chillies, tamarind and jaggery. The traditional method doesn’t call for frying the ginger but you can fry it if you want. The other recipe, Inji Thayir, is not a part of traditional Kerala feast but is usually served during pirannal sadya and “sraddham”. Hope you like both the recipes!!

Ingredients :-

• Ginger - 1/4 cup, finely chopped
• Puli - large lemon-sized
• Green chillies - 5 - 6, sliced to rounds
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery -  4 cubes or to taste
• Salt - To taste

To season :-

• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1

Preparation Method :-

1. Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water for a few minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and pour the extract into a deep saucepan. Add a cup of water, salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder. Bring it to a boil (do not cover with lid). Reduce to simmer. Add the chopped ginger (You can add fried ginger if you want. Heat a little oil in a pan and saute the chopped ginger until brown), jaggery cubes and let it simmer until it reaches a thick consistency, stirring occasionally. It would take more than an hour to achieve this consistency. Adjust the tamarind and jaggery according to your taste preference.   
2. Heat oil in a small pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Fry the dry red chillies and curry leaves. Pour over the prepared puli inji. Serve with rice.