Would you love to guess the combination of sour tamarind plus sweet jaggery with strong ginger?, If you come up with the answer 'YES', then 'Puli Inji' is your choice recipe which you have to give it a shot today.
'Puli Inji' literally means tamarind ginger.

Everyone around the world is using ginger as great stomach settlers but in different forms. It's always a good practice to include ginger in our diet which helps to overcome poor dietary habits. This recipe is the Keralite way of including medicinally valued ginger in our meals.
Do not forget to read these interesting recipes like Avial Kerala style.
Kerala is renowned for its rich heritage food, and this recipe is almost a must on all occasions in a Keralite home. And I'm sure, everybody would fall in love with this traditional recipe and start admiring ginger one more time.
Another interesting property of ginger is, it can also act as a preservative. It stays good in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Chopped Ginger
¼ Cup of Thick Tamarind extract
½ Cup of Jaggery
1 teaspoon of Chili powder
1 teaspoon of Cooking Oil
½ teaspoon of Mustard
½ teaspoon of Urad Dal
1 of Red Chili
1 A stalk of Curry Leaves
How to make Puli Inji:
1. Wash, clean, peel and chop Ginger. Here chopping can be done according to our choice. I like to have it as a finely chopped, freshly ground paste and coarsely chopped would also working fine.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of cooking oil in the pan, add mustard and urad dal, wait till mustard splutters, then add red chili followed by curry leaves.
3. Once urad dal becomes brown add chopped ginger, and golden fry it in the medium flame by stirring them very often. Make sure, it should not get burned in any way. Once done, keep it aside.
4. Add jaggery to ½ cup of water allow boiling for 2-3 min. Strain it through the metal strainer for removing any impurities. In the medium flame combine 1 cup of water with jaggery extract, chili powder, and tamarind extract and bring it to boil for another 3-4 min, add seasoned ginger and continue to boil till it forms flowing consistency.
If stored properly in the refrigerator, this recipe can last longer for 3-4 weeks. Its perfect to be served with steamed rice. But it also the best companion with roles and Idlis as well.
Other condiments you may like,
- Sriracha aioli sauce
- Indian lemon pickle
- Moru Milagai
- Gooseberry pickle
- Pomegranate Raita
- Spicy condiments
Puli Inji
Ingredients
Jaggery syrup
- ½ cup jaggery
- ¼ cup water
Tamarind extract
- 1 lemon size tamarind /5 tablespoon of tamarind pulp
- 1 cup hot water
For the making
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon urad dal /skinless black gram
- 1 red chili
- 1 stalk curry leaves
- 1 cup ginger finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Jaggery syrup
- Over medium heat, in a pan add jaggery and water.
- Allow boil for 3 minutes.
- Then strain it with a metal strainer to remove any impurities. And set aside.
Tamarind extract
- In a mixing bowl soak tamarind with hot water for 15 minutes.
- Squeeze and extract the juice. And discard the impurities.
- Transfer the tamarind extract to a bowl and set aside
The making
- Over medium heat, in a pan add vegetable oil, black mustard seeds, urad dal, red chili, and curry leaves.
- Wait till mustard seeds splutter and urad dal becomes golden brown.
- Then add chopped ginger, and fry by stirring them very often. Make sure, it should not get burned in any way.
- Now add red chili powder, jaggery syrup, tamarind extract,and salt.
- Bring it to boil for another 7 minutes, or until it becomes a thick flowing consistency.
- Transfer to serving bowl and serve with rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Tips and Variations for Puli Inji Recipe:
Try adding grated carrots for little milder taste.
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Sona S
delicious and yummy puli inji.
Rafeeda AR
i really feeling like grabbing that little bowl and stocking it in my fridge!!! love puli inji...