Puliyogare — cooked rice mixed with a thick, intensely sour-spicy-sweet tamarind paste (puliyogare gojju) — is one of the most ancient temple preparations in South Indian cooking, offered as prasad (sacred food) at Karnataka temples. The gojju (tamarind concentrate paste) can be prepared in large batches and stored for weeks. The technique of mixing hot rice with the cold gojju is specific: the rice absorbs the tamarind evenly only when both are at the correct temperature.
- **The gojju:** Tamarind extract reduced with jaggery, mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried chilli, peanuts, sesame seeds, and asafoetida until thick and jam-like. Stored in oil. - **Temperature for mixing:** The rice should be warm (not hot, not cold) when the gojju is folded through. Hot rice causes the tamarind's volatile aromatic compounds to evaporate; cold rice does not absorb the gojju evenly. - **The fold:** A gentle cutting-and-folding motion — not stirring, which breaks the rice grains and produces a gluey mass. - **The peanut:** Dry-roasted peanuts provide the textural contrast that distinguishes this from a plain rice dish — the crunch is essential.
Indian Cookery Course