Puli Inji

As the name suggests it is about Puli (Tamarind or Sourness) and Inji which means Ginger. Take some ginger and scrape the skin off and in the grinder, add the required ginger, green chillies and grind it to a coarse form, do not make it mushy or like a paste. Take some tamarind in its raw form and place it in a bowl of water .If you have the patience extract the juice and set it aside in its own water or be as lazy as I am right now and use the tamarind concentrate readily available in your local markets. Next, in a skillet add some oil, fry the ginger and the green chillies till the raw smell has gone. To this add the tamarind juice that you set aside and some jaggery into the mixture to give this dish its sweetness.

This is like a sweet and sour dish but definitely used as a side dish along with rice during various feasts. Once the jaggery melts in the tamarind liquid, let the dish be left  be on a slow simmer...and allow the liquid to reduce or thicken, be very patient as the result is divine. Do add salt to taste. Once the Puli Inji has reduced, temper it with some mustard, curry leaves and asafoetida. Mix well and don't be repelled by the dark colour. Remember it all depends on your tamarind and jaggery.
Try to keep all ingredients fresh! (Cheesy smile...I made mine with a tamarind concentrate, forgive me guys!) Remember the coarseness of the ginger and chilly makes the Puli Inji slightly crunchy as well. Yummy side dish for your Onam sadhya, Vishu or any feast. BURP :)