Puli Upma | Tamarind Upma | Pulima Upma is a traditional breakfast or evening tiffin variety. Rice is prepared into Rava and then cooked in tangy tamarind extract and served with papad.
Puli Upma, also referred as Tamarind upma is a very traditional breakfast recipe in many of our Tamil Kitchen. Puli Upma, as the name states its a tangy upma made with Tamarind and Rice Rava. First we need to prepare the rice rava and then we cook the rice rava in tamarind juice along with other Indian Spices. This Pulima upma tastes more like Puliyodarai or tamarind rice. We don’t need any accompaniment for this wonderful breakfast. Since it has all flavor and spices for our taste buds, we can just serve plain or with toasted papad.
Preparing Rice Rava:
Preparing Rice rava is the first step in the process of making Puli Upma. I have given here the instant version of preparing rice rava. But there is a authentic way to make rice rava which has a longer shelf life than the instant version. Refer to my notes to make Rice rava in larger quantity and store it for long time. I’m planning to make a video with my MIL to explain in detail how to prepare Rice rava in larger quantity using authentic way. The rice rava we need should be like a broken wheat consistency. If should not be like the semolina or sooji that we use for Rava Upma.
Store bough Rice Rava:
Nowadays we are getting Rice rava in any Indian grocery store. But the store bought rice rava is so smooth that the upma will become like a porridge instead of thick upma. So for this recipe and also for Arisi Upma or Upma kozhukattai, I always prefer to make Rice Rava at home.
Puli Upma | Tamarind Upma | Pulima Upma is a traditional breakfast or evening tiffin variety. Rice is prepared into Rava and then cooked in tangy tamarind extract and served with papad.
2CupsRaw RiceWe can use Ponni or Sona Masoori or Basmati
1Gooseberry SizeTamarindSoak in 2.5 Cups of water & Extract the juice
¼tspAsafoetida (Asafetida / Hing)
¼tspTurmeric Powder
FewCurry Leaves
2CupsWater
2tbspSesame Oil
SaltAs Needed
For Tempering
3tbspSesame Oil
1tspMustard Seeds
1tspSplit Urad Dal
3tspSplit Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
1tbspPeanuts
5Red Chili
Instructions
Soak tamarind in 2.5 cups of warm water and extract the juice
Rice Rava Prepration
Take 2 cups of rice. Sprinkle water to damp the rice. The rice should be just wet. Do not soak rice in water.
Set the wet rice aside for about 10 mins to dry completely.
Split the dried rice into two parts. Take one part to mixer jar and give a pulse or two. The rice should be broken but not be ground to powder. The consistency of the rice rava should be more coarse than the sooji we use for upma
Repeat the same grinding process for the second part of the rice.
Our Rice Rava Ready! Lets make Puli Upma!
Tempering Process
Heat Sesame oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Add split urad dal, bengal gram (kadalaparuppu) and peanuts and fry till dal turns golden brown.
Then add hing, broken red chili, turmeric powder and curry leaves and saute for few seconds
Add tamarind extract and water to the pan. Add salt and bring the tamarind water to boil
When the water starts rolling boil, add the rice rava and keep stirring so that there are no lumps
Cover & Cook the rice rava in medium flame. Open and stir in regular intervals to check if the rice is cooked and also to prevent burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan
If the rice is not cooked completely but the tamarind water is fully absorbed, then add plain water and keep cooking the rice rava. Also if we add more water, we need to adjust the spice and salt. We can add red chili powder and also adjust salt.
Once all rice rava is cooked completely and water is fully absorbed, switch off the flame. Close the pan with lid and let the upma remain aside for about 5-10 mins. This will make the upma to crumble a little.
Serve the delicious Puli Upma | Tamarind Upma with papad and enjoy the traditonal breakfast!
Video
Notes
Puli Upma can also be done using Rice Flour. Add Rice Flour, tamarind water, turmeric, Hing and salt and mix well. This will be like Idli dough consistency. After seasoning this dough will be cooked till this comes like upma consistency.
The preparation of the rice rava mentioned above is instant method which can be used at that time. But if we want to make rice rava to store for longer period, then there is a separate method.
Method for making More quantity of Rice Rava to store: Wash the rice thoroughly and spread it in a clean white towel and let it for about 6 hours. The rice will become dry completely. Then grind the rice into a coarse powder. The rice should be like a broken wheat not like Semolina (sooji). Store it in air-tight container and use it whenever needed
The Tamarind extract+water should be in the ratio 1:2.5. For 1 Cup of Rice Rava we need 2.5 cups of Tamarind extract+ water. But some of the rice varieties need more water to cook. So when we are cooking the rice rava, we need to check the rava in regular intervals. If the rice rava is not cooked but all the water is absorbed, then add more plain water and cook till the rice rava is cooked completely
The cooked upma seems to be sticky but if we leave it for 5-10 mins covered, then while cooling, the upma tends to become dry and crumble.
We can taste the upma and adjust the spice and salt level while its still cooking. Adjust the spice by adding red chili powder.
There are few other variations in making Puli Upma - Some prefer to use rice flour to make this upma.
Nutritional Info
Nutrition Facts
Puli Upma | Tamarind Upma | Pulima Upma
Amount Per Serving
Calories 250Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Protein 8g16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
good result method.soak one small size tamarind and make a solution adding one tumbler water. extract the solution.add one tumbler raw rice power{pacharisi mavu},salt,asafoitida to the tamarind solotion and make a paste{not loose}/In a thickbottommed pan add one kuzhi karandi oil, after heating add mustard seeds ,then ulundu parippu, kadalai parippu,cut green chillies and red chillies each 3 numbers, add curry leaf.to this add the paste and stir with medium flame till the paste change to small powder shape.It is time and oil consuming. After seasoning all the items , if you add the raw rice powder in the boiling tamarind water.the loose paste will not be uniform,but with lot of undai and urulais. this is the good result method. what is neededis patience
Hi dear friend, this is Jayanthi.
My grandma used to make this pulima. She would keep on stirring in a big iron kadai. Does It take a very long time if the rice is ground to batter form? How long will it take for the batter to become powdery form?
how can we make pulio upma with rice flour which we get from the shop?
good result method.soak one small size tamarind and make a solution adding one tumbler water. extract the solution.add one tumbler raw rice power{pacharisi mavu},salt,asafoitida to the tamarind solotion and make a paste{not loose}/In a thickbottommed pan add one kuzhi karandi oil, after heating add mustard seeds ,then ulundu parippu, kadalai parippu,cut green chillies and red chillies each 3 numbers, add curry leaf.to this add the paste and stir with medium flame till the paste change to small powder shape.It is time and oil consuming. After seasoning all the items , if you add the raw rice powder in the boiling tamarind water.the loose paste will not be uniform,but with lot of undai and urulais. this is the good result method. what is neededis patience
Hi dear friend, this is Jayanthi.
My grandma used to make this pulima. She would keep on stirring in a big iron kadai. Does It take a very long time if the rice is ground to batter form? How long will it take for the batter to become powdery form?
For 1 cup of batter, it will take approximately 10-15 mins for the batter to become like crumbled upma