A famous delicacy of South India, well known as Andhra maata (Queen of Andhra food), Gongura (red sorrel leaves) rice can be prepared in minutes and tastes absolutely delicious. Gongura has a nice tart taste that makes it unique among all the other green leafy vegetables. We get two varieties of these leaves- red and white- but the red variety is more tangy than the other one. And when it is prepared with the combination of spices and mixed in rice, with green chilies and onions by the side, it just tastes sensational and uplifts our mood. You must be salivating with the description itself, right? And trust me, it tastes as delicious as it sounds. For all the spice lovers out there, it’s definitely a must try.
Gongura rice is a quick rice dish, prepared along the lines of regular pulihora (lemon rice or tamarind rice), but has a sort of exotic taste to it. I first prepared this dish a few years ago and shared it with my friend who is living in the US now. She told me that she prepared this gongura rice when she had her friends over and they all loved it so much that she has mastered this dish by preparing it quite often for her friends; it’s become her signature dish! We often prepare dal and chutneys with Gongura leaves, but do try this in the form of a rice dish to give a touch of new flavor to your tastebuds. The authentic dish, gongura rice- is super easy to make and most of the ingredients are easily available in the average Indian kitchen. All you need is fresh red sorrel leaves, that is called gongura in telugu.
**I will share a secret with y’all at the end of the recipe, that will help you prepare it instantly and in off season too (when you don’t have the sorrel leaves available locally to you), without compromising much on the taste. So follow me til’ the end to know the secret.** :”D
Find the other Rice dish recipes below:
Mango Rice Riceball manchurian Lobia Rice
Gongura Rice Recipe:
Remove the sorrel leaves from the stems carefully and wash them properly about 3-4 times. Drain them in a colander till all the water gets drained. Heat a wide skillet over medium heat, add two tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the sorrel leaves and a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to it. Keep sautéing every now and then. Let it fry till they wilt and lose their rawness. Remove it from the heat and let it cool down completely. Grind it into a coarse paste without adding any water and keep it aside.
Heat 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat, add chana dal, white urad dal, mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds start crackling, add a few fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, dry red chilies and asafoetida to it. Fenugreek and asafoetida enhance the flavors of this dish, so don’t forget to add them. Also add some garlic cloves and fry them till they get roasted well. Some people use cashew nuts or peanuts like how we use them for tamarind rice normally, but I like to add only garlic cloves to this dish for a unique flavor. But if you don’t like garlic, you can use cashews or peanuts too.
Add a little bit of tamarind pulp for the extra sourness, if your sorrel leaves are not very tangy. Here in the US, the variety of sorrel leaves we get are very big in size and are not that tangy, so I added a bit of tamarind pulp to give it additional tanginess. But it’s completely optional. Once the tamarind pulp is cooked, add red chili powder and coriander powder. If you don’t like the whole fenugreek, skip adding them in the beginning and you can add a pinch of roasted fenugreek powder along with your spices. Keep the heat in low while adding the spices so that you don’t burn them.
Add in ground sorrel leaves paste to the tempering and mix it well. Let it cook for a few minutes till the oil oozes out from the edges. Turn the heat off and add the cooked rice to it. For this dish, we need to cook the rice without making it mushy. Spread the rice on a wide plate and sprinkle salt, turmeric powder and oil. Set aside to cool completely before adding it to the sorrel leaves mixture. This dish is a great option to make use of any leftover rice that you have. After adding the rice into the mixture, combine it well so that the spices spread evenly throughout the rice. Adjust the salt if required. Garnish with thinly sliced onions and slit green chilies before serving. I prepared some onion tomato raita, by adding chopped onions and tomatoes to beaten yogurt and seasoned it with Indian tempering, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt. Actually, this dip helps in reducing the heat that is produced by the spices and sorrel leaves to our body. A tangy, spicy and flavorful dish, Gongura rice is ready to give you a burst of exotic flavors; a flavor you’ll always want to get back to. Hope you enjoy!
** You can also use the readymade gongura pickle instead of frying the fresh sorrel leaves to make instantly in no time. Just mix the pickle to the rice and add the tempering to it **
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 bunch of sorrel leaves preferably red sorrel leaves, stems removed and washed
- 2 cups of rice cooked
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp of chana dal
- 1 tbsp of urad dal
- 1 tsp of mustard seeds
- 8-10 seeds of fenu greek
- 10-12 dry red chilies
- 15-20 curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp of asafoetida
- 15-20 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 tbsp of tamarind pulp (optional)
- 1 tbsp of coriander powder
- 1-2 tbsp of red chili powder (add as per your tolerance to spice)
- 1 medium sized onion thinly sliced (for garnishing)
- 3-4 green chilies slit (for garnishing)
Ingredients
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- Cook the rice in such a way that each grain is separate and spread it to cool.
- Remove the stems of red sorrel leaves, wash properly and drain all the water.
- Heat oil in a pan, add the sorrel leaves, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Fry till the sorrel leaves wilt and lose their rawness.
- Remove from the heat and grind it into a coarse paste when it is cooled down. Do not add any water while grinding.
- Heat 3-4 tbsp of oil, add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida and fry them till they are roasted.
- Add cloves of garlic and fry till they turn golden.
- Add tamarind pulp and cook for a few minutes. (optional for extra tanginess)
- Add red chili powder, coriander powder and a pinch of roasted fenugreek powder.
- Add in ground sorrel paste to it and cook till oil oozes out from the sides.
- Turn the heat off and let the sorrel leaves mixture cool for a while.
- Add the mixture to the cooked rice and combine it well so that the spices spread evenly throughout the rice.
- Adjust salt if required.
- Garnish it with thinly sliced onions and slit green chilies, before serve.
- Enjoy the tangy, spicy and flavorful gongura rice!
