Pachi pulusu

5 from 3 votes

Pachi Pulusu is a traditional Andhra dish from South India. It's a type of rasam or soup made with tamarind extract and various spices. "Pachi" means raw or uncooked, and "pulusu" refers to a sour and tangy stew-like dish. The main ingredients typically include tamarind, green chilies, onions, curry leaves, and sometimes tomatoes

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Total Time30

Course: Dinner, Soup

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Andhra cuisine, South Indian dish, Tamarind-based

Servings:

Calories: 68kcal

Equipment

1 cup
1 teaspoon
1 tablespoons

Ingredients

1 cup tamarind pulp or tamarind juice
2-4 green chilies or red chilli
8-10 8-10 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (or cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp jaggery
salt
vegetables like tomato, onion, red chilli, garlic, green mango

Instructions

Preparation
Take a dry tamarind and soak the raw tamarind in 2 cups of warm water. Usually, a ball-sized tamarind is softened in 15 or 20 minutes.Then discard all seeds and fibers, and extract the tamarind pulp by squeezing the tamarind in a small bowl. Or, you just may use the juice instead.Heat oil, (1 tablespoon) in a pan and roast the green chilies or red chilli over direct flame.Roast dry (without using oil) all the seeds you’ll use in your recipe.
Make a paste
To make a paste, grind the green chilies (or red chilli) and all the seeds together and mix well. I use water to facilitate the grinding.
Mix
In a large bowl, mix well the tamarind extract (tamarind pulp or tamarind juice), curry leaves, turmeric powder, the earlier-prepared paste, and salt. Mix well.Add the finely chopped vegetables (if you have any) to the mixture. Mix well and ensure that vegetables are coated well with the mixture.Once again, mix well. It is very important!
Add warm water to your preference. Since pachi pulusu is thinner than other types of rasam, I try to add just enough water to achieve a soupy consistency.Taste the salt and adjust the seasoning. Add more salt, if you think it’s lacking, and add spices or red chilli to your preference. I don’t like my raw tamarind rasam too spicy, therefore my pachi pulusu recipe doesn’t include many spices or red chilli. But if you want your stew as spicy as possible, don’t hesitate to add more red chilli pieces.
Final Steps
Heat oil in a small pan for tempering. Add finely chopped onions and a few curry leaves, red chilli, and cumin seeds, mix, and roast them for a few seconds until they turn crisp over direct flame.Pour the tempering over pachi pulusu.
Serve
Serve your dish in a small bowl as a chilled beverage or as a side dish with optional veggies or hot steamed rice. Though I like it best served with rice, if you don’t like steamed rice, or rice in general, there are plenty of other options, like, chapati, dosa, idli, curry leaves, or just bread. I think the tangy flavor of the meal complements anything.

Notes

I often roast a few curry leaves over direct flame, if there are any left, and garnish my pachi pulusu with curry leaves.

Just before serving, I add jaggery. Pachi pulusu recipe does not always include it, because it adds sweetness.

Nutrition