A tamarind-ginger pickle recipe from a book on Onam Sadhya

In an Onam sadhya the tail end of the banana leaf, on your left, is loaded with accompaniments that range from sweet and salty to sour and pungent. You will find the six ayurvedic tastes here, as well as a spectrum of textures: from crisp to soft and liquid.

These accompaniments are placed on the leaf prior to the actual service of the sadhya. As children we were allowed to do some of these placements, especially the banana and chips.

Grown-ups would tell us to place around four or five chips on each leaf. We would count them out precisely, making sure that there was not one less or one more. Needless to say, after putting some on every leaf a couple of chips would go into our mouths. Since I have a sweet tooth, I would always prefer to distribute the sarkara upperi, the jaggery-coated banana chips.

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There is no fixed number of accompaniments that can be served at an Onam sadhya. The poovan pazham (small variety of ripe banana), kaaya varuthatha, sarkara upperi, manga kari or naranga achar, pulli inji/inji thayir and pappadum are usually a must. To this you could add chakka chola varuthatha, a second pickle, steamed Kerala banana, ela ada or unniyappam. Very few people today actually make the chips and pickles at home. These are readily available at South Indian stores or online. If you are unable to find the poovan pazham, you could substitute it with the regular robusta bananas. Pulli inji is also available in bottles today, though making it is fairly simple.

Pulli Inji
Tamarind–Ginger Pickle

Pulli inji, also known as inji pulli or tamarind–ginger chutney, is another essential accompaniment of an Onam sadhya. It is also a popular condiment known for its sweet and tangy flavour. ‘Pulli’ in Malayalam refers to tamarind and ‘inji’ means ginger.

Ingredients
50 g tamarind
50 g ginger
50 g jaggery
2–3 green chillies (adjust to taste)
One-fourth teaspoon turmeric powder
One-fourth teaspoon teaspoon red chilli powder
Half teaspoon mustard seeds
One-fourth teaspoon teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2–3 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20–25 minutes
Serves 10–12

Nutritional Value
(Per serving of 20–25 g/1 tablespoon)
Calories: 50–60 kcal
Fat: 1–2 g
Carbohydrates: 11–13 g
Fibre: 1–2 g
Sugar: 8–10 g
Protein: 0–1 g
Sodium: 50–100 mg

Instructions

1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup (250 ml) of warm water for 20–30 minutes to soften it. After soaking, extract the tamarind pulp and discard any seeds or fibres.

2. Grate or finely chop the ginger.

3. Finely chop the green chillies.

4. Crush the jaggery, or grate it, and keep aside.

5. Heat oil in a pan or kadai over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Let them splutter.

6. Add the chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté for a minute.

7. Add the grated/chopped ginger and sauté for another 2–3 minutes until the ginger becomes fragrant and slightly golden.

8. Add the tamarind pulp, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and stir well. Bring to boil and simmer until the mixture thickens.

9. Add jaggery to the tamarind mixture and stir until it dissolves completely. Adjust the amount of jaggery according to your taste. You can add more if you prefer it sweeter. Depending on how sweet, tangy or pungent you want it, adjust the quantities of the jaggery, tamarind and chillies.

10. Season with salt to taste and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and reaches a thick, chutney-like consistency.

11. Remove it from the heat and let it cool. You can store the pulli inji in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Excerpted with permission from ‘On Feast on a Leaf: The Onam Sadhya Cookbook’ authored by Arun Kumar T.R. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing India.

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