Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Pulinkari
Pulinkari (Sour Vegetable Curry)

Pulinkari

Sour Vegetable Curry
Vegetarian●●●Origin KeralaPrep 20–30 minutesCook 20–30 minutes

A comforting South Indian vegetable curry featuring pumpkin and cucumber simmered in a tangy tamarind broth, thickened with freshly toasted coconut paste and finished with a fragrant mustard-chilli tempering.

Spices for the coconut paste

14 gToasted with the coconut (step 2)
01
Dried red chilli · Sukhi Lal Mirch
10 g10 chillies
spice
02
Fenugreek seed · Methi Dana
3.7 g1 teaspoon
spice
Keep whole; they are toasted with the coconut before grinding.

Tempering spices

3.3 gFried in the oil (step 4)
01
Mustard seed · Rai
3.3 g1 teaspoon
spice
Keep whole: they go directly into the hot oil.

Everything else

01
Pumpkin · Kaddupeeled, de-seeded and cut into 2.5-cm / 1-inch cubes
200 g
vegetable
02
Cucumber · Kheerapeeled and cut into 2.5-cm / 1-inch cubes
100 g
vegetable
03
Tamarind extract · Imli ka RasMake it: Imli ka Sutt →
16 g1 tablespoon
souring agent
04
Vegetable oil · Tel
14 g1 tablespoon
oil/fat
05
Green chilli · Hari Mirchde-seeded and chopped
12 g2 chillies
vegetable
06
Salt · Namak
to taste
salt
07
Coconut · Nariyalgrated
400 g1 coconut
fruit

Method

  1. Place 200 g pumpkin, 100 g cucumber and salt to taste into a large saucepan of water and simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
  2. Warm a dry frying pan over medium heat, add 400 g grated coconut, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Tip in the spices for the coconut paste and continue to toast for about 1 minute until fragrant and roasted, then transfer to a food processor and grind to a paste.
  3. Pour 15.6 g tamarind extract and the ground coconut paste into the saucepan with the cooked vegetables, bring to a rolling boil, and take off the heat immediately.
  4. Heat 13.5 g vegetable oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the tempering spices and 12 g green chilli, sizzling for about 1 minute until the seeds crackle and pop, then pour the hot infused oil over the curry.

Don't have something?

Pumpkin
  • Ash gourd

    Use the same weight; peel and cube. Firmer and less sweet, so cook 5–10 minutes longer and taste for sugar.

  • Sweet potato

    Use the same weight; peel and cube. Sweeter and starchier; reduce added sugar and cook until just tender.

  • Courgette

    Use the same weight; cut larger chunks. Watery and soft, so cook 5 minutes less and reduce liquid.

Cucumber
  • Courgette

    Use the same weight; peel if eating raw and salt-drain briefly. Softer and less watery.

  • White radish

    Use 70% of the weight, grate, salt and squeeze out water. Sharper and peppery.

  • Chayote

    Use the same weight, peeled and diced; crisp but bland, so adjust salt and lemon.

Tamarind extract
  • Tamarind

    Use 180% of the weight of compressed tamarind; soak in three times its weight of boiling water for 15 minutes, knead, and strain out the thick pulp.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use 35% of the weight dissolved in two tablespoons of warm water. Provides sharp tang, though the resulting sauce will be lighter in colour.

  • Lemon juice

    Use equal weight, added right at the end of cooking. Adds sharp acidity without the deep brown hue or pulpy thickness.

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Mustard seed
  • Black mustard seed

    Use the same weight. The seeds are smaller and hotter; fry in hot oil until they pop, about 20–30 seconds, and reduce the heat if they darken too fast. The dish will be a little sharper.

  • Yellow mustard seeds

    Use the same weight. They are milder and larger; fry a few seconds longer until they pop. The finished dish will have less pungency.

  • Ground mustard seed

    Use 70% of the weight of whole seed, added with the other ground spices rather than fried whole. You lose the popping texture and the heat comes through more evenly.

Green chilli
  • Chilli powder

    Use 10 to 15% of the weight (about 1/4 teaspoon per chilli); imparts dry pungent heat and reddens the dish without the grassy crunch.

  • Dried red chilli

    Use 1 dried pod per fresh green chilli; snap in half and temper in hot oil for a deeper, toastier heat.

Coconut
  • Fresh coconut

    Use equal weight freshly grated or diced. Delivers the identical sweet, milky taste and juicy texture.

  • Desiccated coconut

    Use 60% of the weight and soak in hot water or milk for 15 minutes before using. The finished dish will be slightly sweeter and less fibrous.

  • Dried coconut

    Finely grate and use 50% of the weight, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes. Yields a firmer chew and a denser, oilier coconut aroma.

Dried red chilli
  • Dried kashmiri chilli

    Use equal weight whole. Fry in hot oil or ghee as tempered spice; gives a richer red colour with slightly milder heat.

  • Red chilli powder

    Use 50% to 70% of the weight. Stir into the oil with ground spices; distributes heat evenly throughout the dish without whole chilli skins.

Fenugreek seed
  • Mustard seed

    Use 50% of the weight, crush or grind. Sharper heat and less maple-bitter; fry briefly in oil before adding.

  • Caraway seeds

    Use the same weight, crush lightly. Similar bitter-seed note but more aniseed; reduce other sweet spices slightly.

  • Ajwain seeds

    Use 25–30% of the weight, crush. Much stronger thyme-like flavour; do not overdo.

Similar dishes

Kobari Pachadi
Coconut Chutney with Seasoning
Kobari Pachadi is cooler, creamier, and much milder, whereas this dish is sharply sour and significantly spicier.
  • Same: Kobari Pachadi shares a base of coconut along with a vegetable oil tempering of mustard seeds and dried red chilli.
  • Different: Instead of simmering vegetables in a tamarind and fenugreek broth with green chillies, Kobari Pachadi blends the coconut raw with plain yogurt and adds urad dal to the tempering.
Dahi ki Chutney
Yoghurt Chutney
Dahi ki Chutney tastes cool, creamy, and mildly tart from the yogurt and lime, whereas this dish has a sharper tamarind sourness and earthy fenugreek warmth.
  • Same: Like this dish, Dahi ki Chutney uses a fresh coconut base tempered with mustard seeds, green chillies, and dried red chillies in vegetable oil.
  • Different: Instead of simmering vegetables in a tamarind broth with fenugreek seeds, Dahi ki Chutney is a blended condiment made with whisked yogurt, lime juice, toasted lentils, ginger, and curry leaves.
Pavakka Theeyal
Bitter Gourd Curry with Fried Coconut
Pavakka Theeyal has a sharper bitter taste balanced by darker, nuttier roasted coconut, whereas this dish tastes milder, sweeter, and more herbaceous from fenugreek.
  • Same: Pavakka Theeyal shares the same vegetable oil base, a 400-gram coconut paste, tamarind extract as the souring agent, and a mustard seed tempering.
  • Different: Instead of pumpkin, cucumber, and fenugreek seeds, Pavakka Theeyal uses bitter gourd cooked with deeply browned coconut, significantly more oil, curry leaves, turmeric, coriander, and black peppercorn.
Nariyal ki Chutney
Coconut Chutney
It tastes fresh, sharp, and herbaceous from lime and coriander, whereas this dish tastes tangy from tamarind with cooked coconut and a mustard-chilli tempering.
  • Same: Nariyal ki Chutney shares coconut, green chilli, and salt with this dish.
  • Different: It is an uncooked chutney soured with lime and flavored with coriander, cumin, and asafoetida, while this dish is a simmered pumpkin-and-cucumber curry soured with tamarind and thickened with toasted coconut paste.