It is cultivated all over India. Tamarind is a very large tree with long, heavy drooping branches and dense foliage.
The fruit pulp is edible. It is used in South Indian cooking to make chutneys, dal and sambar etc. The hard green pulp of a young fruit is sour, and is often used as a component of savory dishes, as a pickling agent etc.
Its sticky pulp is a good source of dietary fiber which binds to toxins in the food thereby help protect the colon mucus membrane from cancer causing chemicals.
Tamarind is rich in tartaric acid which gives sour taste to food and is a powerful antioxidant.
Tamarind pulp is used in many traditional medicines as a laxative, digestive and as a remedy for bile disorders.
When tamarind is raw, before it ripens, it is rich with lot of pulp. Normally, I cook the tamarind with a little bit of water, in a pressure cooker. When the mixture cools, I add some more water to it and squeeze the pulp. Strain it and keep it away in the freezer. When the raw tamarind is not available, this pulp comes in handy for recipes.
Bacchali is a perennial vine Basella alba and found in tropical Asia and Africa where it is user as a leafy vegetable. It is known as pui shak in Bengali. poi ni bhaji in Gujarati, basale soppu in Kannada, mayalu in Marathi. Bacchali is available in vine form and also small bunch type, In creeper variety also, you can find red and purple stem vine and green stem.
Malabar spinach, like any other green vegetable, is high in vitamins, iron and calcium. It is also a rich source of soluble fiber, low in calories by volume and high in protein per calorie.
In this recipe, I am making pulusu using bacchali kura and frozen green tamarind pulp. Raw tamarind gives the dish a distinctive taste. The recipe can also be made using regular tamarind paste or sour green mango!
Ingredients:
- 3 Bunches bacchali kura (about 3 cups chopped leaves)
- 1 cup chintakaya pulp (either fresh or frozen)
- 4 or 5 green chiles
- 1/4 Tsp. turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 3 Tsp. rice flour
Seasoning:
- 2 Tsp, oil
- 2 or 3 red chiles
- 1 Tsp. methi seeds
- 1 Tsp. mustard seeds
- 1 Tsp. jeera seeds
- Pinch of hing (asafetida)
- 3 Tsp. mustard powder
Directions:
- Wash and clean bacchali kura.
- Chop coarsely.
- Boil a little water in a thick bottomed vessel.
- Add chopped bacchala kura and green chiles.
- When the leaves are cooked, add tamarind pulp.
- Add salt and turmeric powders.
- Let the mixture cook on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup water to the rice flour make a paste and add to the cooking mixture.
- Keep stirring and let cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Heat oil in a small pan, add red chiles, methi, mustard and jeera seeds.
- When mustard seeds splutter, add hing.
- Add the seasoning to the pulusu.
- Turn the heat off.
- Add mustard powder or paste to the pulusu and stir well.
- Keep covered and serve hot.
- Goes well with rice.
