• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Edible Garden

  • Popular Categories
    • Dal Recipes
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Egg Recipes
    • Indo-Chinese Recipes
    • Mushroom Recipes
  • Kerala Recipes
  • Chocolate
  • About
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
You are here: Home / Kerala Recipes / Inji Curry | Puli Inji | Onam Sadya Recipes

Inji Curry | Puli Inji | Onam Sadya Recipes

November 24, 2015 26 Comments

Inji Curry or Puli Inji is a Kerala Sadya special, particularly made and served for Onam Sadya. Amma. I have a weird relationship with ginger (inji in Malayalam). It’s weird I can’t really explain it. Let me try though, stay with me ok?

So here’s the thing. If I sniff a piece raw ginger, I feel nauseous. It’s ironic because ginger is what people sniff when they feel nauseous. I can never eat a ginger candy. I hate biting into ginger pieces that are added to upma (I always grate and add it) and such. BUT. I love the flavour of it as long as it’s not dominating the dish – like ginger chicken, or adding it to coconut chutney, or even fresh lime juice with ginger. There’s an exception though (I told you this is weird) – Inji Curry. Inji curry is a condiment that’s an essential part of an Onam sadya and the star ingredient is obviously. ginger. AND, I love it.

Inji Curry | Puli Inji | Onam Sadya Recipes

Amma makes inji curry and stores it in the refrigerator for weeks. She never restricts dishes to festivals, and makes them as she pleases, when she wants. The inji curry in the pictures here are made by her to send back with me during my last trip to Kottayam.

It’s super easy to make Inji Curry so I hope the lack of step by step pictures doesn’t deter you. Will try to update if and when I make this myself. Here’s a list of Onam Sadya Recipes, just for you. Pulissery and Cabbage Thoran go really well with this Inji Curry.

Inji Curry / Puli Inji Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes ~ 2 cups of Inji Curry

Ingredients:
1 cup of peeled and chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup of thick tamarind juice (soak and squeeze juice of a lemon-ball sized ball of tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water)
1 tsp of red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
2 of green chillies
1/4 tsp of kaayam / asafoetida
2-3 tbsp of grated or powdered jaggery (adjust to taste)
1/4 cup of oil
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds
Salt to taste
A few curry leaves

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the ginger until dark golden brown. It should be just short of burning but do not burn it, that would ruin the flavour completely. Before removing the fried ginger, throw in the green chillies, fry for a few seconds, and drain along with the ginger. Set aside to cool.

2. Once the ginger cools down, grind well and aside.

3. From the oil used to fry ginger, remove all except 3 tbsp oil. Heat it and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the fenugreek seeds. They will brown quickly so as soon as they do, throw in the curry leaves. Fry for a bit.

4. Next, add the ground ginger, asafoetida, red chilly powder, jaggery, tamarind, and salt. Mix well and simmer for about 10-12 mins until the oil starts to separate. If you’ve added too much water, this may take longer.

5. Remove from fire, cool, and store in a dry bottle in the refrigerator. We usually keep it for around a month, so you can too, provided you always remember to use a dry spoon to take some.

Inji Curry | Puli Inji | Onam Sadya Recipes

Notes:

– you can follow the same recipe for maa inji (mango ginger) too. It tastes equally, if not more, delicious
– you can adjust the sweetness level according to your personal taste. This quantity results in a perfect balance that suits us
– the spice level with these quantities tend to be on the slightly higher side so lower it if you have lesser tolerance
– the picture was taken of refrigerated Inji Curry. When you make it fresh, it will be a bit ‘looser’ than this
– even if you hate ginger, give this one a shot. Trust me on this 🙂

I know it’s a bit early to post an onam recipe but I was going through some of the pictures and when I saw this, I was reminded of amma bottling it up for me and me keeping it for weeks and weeks, eating a little at a time, fearing it will be over soon. Made me smile, so felt I should share it with you immediately!

PS: This year I will be in Kottayam for Onam. Wheeee! 😀

Share This Recipe
  • Facebook0
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest0
  • Twitter
  • Google+0
  • Email
  • Print
0

By nags Filed Under: Kerala Recipes, Onam Sadya Recipes, Uncategorized

logo
Food Advertising by

Subscribe

for your weekly recipe fix.

Previous Post: « Vanilla Panna Cotta Recipe with Blueberry Coulis
Next Post: Eggless Sponge Cake Recipe, Sponge Cake Step by Step »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Neena Thomas

    July 14, 2021 at 2:23 pm

    I wasn’t a fan of inji curry.
    But ever since I’ve tried this recipe, I’ve become a big fan.
    Now this inji curry is in high demand from my family & friend circle.

    Big thanks to you… On behalf of all of us.

    Reply
    • nags

      July 20, 2021 at 9:21 pm

      thank you so much!

      Reply
  2. Gowri

    September 13, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    I tried out this version of the Inji puli=grinding the ginger and green chilies after frying.I loved it for the texture and that fact there is nil wastage.Otherwise the ginger will be thrown away or the green chilies.

    Reply
    • nags

      September 16, 2020 at 6:26 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Puneet

    January 23, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    Hi, for the mango-ginger version, should we be cooking the mango along with ginger in the oil first?

    Reply
    • Nagalakshmi V

      January 24, 2013 at 2:06 am

      use the exact same recipe but replace ginger with mango ginger

      Reply
  4. പ്രിയ അജു

    August 22, 2012 at 8:12 am

    you can add some sugar to it while cooking. sugar adds taste of puli inchi. and also dont use salted jaggery. It has different names in kerala. puli inchi, inchippuli, inchicurry and some says inchappuli. It can also be made by using one or two grinded dates along with jaggery ( will be sweet)

    Reply
  5. Chowder Singh

    July 19, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Superb recipe! My mom does a killer version too.

    Reply
  6. chennaispice

    July 13, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    Does it go well with rice, or should it be used as an accompaniment for idly/dosa?

    Reply
    • Nagalakshmi V

      July 14, 2012 at 2:10 am

      rice is the main combo for inji curry but you can eat it with idli, dosa, chapati, anything really 🙂

      Reply
  7. Kadhyaa

    July 13, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    never heard or tasted this before sounds very interesting. thanks for sharing

    Reply
  8. Sag

    July 12, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    delicious…
    infact my mother in laws makes a chutney with same ingradients you listed but sightly different methods that goes well with idly/dosa etc. My son calls it as 'Bamma's ketchup' (bamma (telugu) = grandma).

    Reply
  9. runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com

    July 12, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    I like ginger, yes dont like biting them unless its a pickle that my mom makes with small ginger pieces! Like this recipe and the click!

    Reply
  10. dassana

    July 12, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    i love ginger… if don't have ginger i know i am missing it badly. helps me with the migraines as well.

    the inji reminds me of our keralite neighbor who used to make on onam and serve the whole onam platter to us.

    Reply
  11. Chitra

    July 12, 2012 at 10:34 am

    This is my fav. My mom makes it similarly.. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Priya

    July 12, 2012 at 10:19 am

    Mouthwatering here, wat a terrific and super tempting inji curry.

    Reply
  13. ♥LOVE2COOK MALAYSIA♥

    July 12, 2012 at 10:05 am

    I love ginger in anything and love to chew on dried ginger. I never had inji puli before though. Very new to me and I feel like dipping my finger in! Mmmmmm 😉

    Reply
  14. Vetrimagal

    July 12, 2012 at 8:30 am

    This is an awesome looking picture. With hardly any chillies , how did you get that pretty color? So mouth watering. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Nagalakshmi V

      July 13, 2012 at 2:07 am

      The colour comes from the fried ginger. You must fry it until it's nice and dark brownish-red, and then it's perfect to make puli inji 🙂

      Reply
    • Sangeetha Nambi

      July 19, 2012 at 4:24 am

      Nags, Deep frying of ginger will not give bitter taste ???

      Reply
  15. Madhavi

    July 12, 2012 at 7:34 am

    🙂 Ditto feeling with Ginger!

    One of the cooks who used to come in my native for ceremonies used to make a killing pachadi with Jaggery & tamarind!

    Love your site.

    Reply
  16. Sangeetha Nambi

    July 12, 2012 at 4:44 am

    Thanks Nags… Was searching for this recipe… My favy one…

    http://recipe-excavator.blogspot.com

    Reply
  17. Veena Theagarajan

    July 12, 2012 at 4:09 am

    I love Ginger in all dishes.. My mum used to do this .. Same as you I eat little by little (need to keep till I get next stock right?) Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  18. Divya Kudua

    July 12, 2012 at 3:59 am

    Would it sound weird if I told you I share the same sentiments?I hate biting into ginger pieces too and always make sure either it is chopped finely or grated.Love puli inji too(now this is getting weird;)!!Happy looking-forward-to-Onam days:)

    Reply
  19. Anita Mokashi

    July 12, 2012 at 3:33 am

    I love this…my friend's mom made this on Onam:)

    Reply
  20. Nisha

    July 12, 2012 at 1:58 am

    I hear ya. I hate mint ice cream and mint-chocolate candies/mouth-fresheners, but I love mint chutney & mint-flavored water. I don't like ginger on its own either. But ginger tea & ginger chutney is cool with me. It really is weird, and I'm sure I'd love this curry too 😀

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hello!

I am Nags, the face behind Edible Garden, a food and recipes website for the busy (and sometimes lazy!) cook since 2007. My recipes are meant to be quick yet healthy and delicious - Nothing fancy, nothing too difficult. Follow Me On Instagram for real-time food and life updates.

ADS

logo
Food Advertising by

Popular Recipes

Instant Oats Idli Recipe with Rava, Step by Step
Kerala plum cake recipe
Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe
dosa recipe-how to make dosa
pressure cooker eggless sponge cake recipe (no oven cake)
vegetable pulao recipe
Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake Recipe Step by Step
garlic pull-apart rolls recipe, eggless
paneer butter masala recipe restaurant style

Browse Older Recipes

Translate

Copyright © 2022