The traditional rice you can cook on a Tuesday
Most native varieties ask something of you. Kavuni needs an overnight soak. Mappillai samba needs two hours minimum and a long boil. That's fine on a weekend and awkward on a weekday.
Poongar is the exception. A short soak, a normal cook time, and a softer finish. If you've wanted to move your household onto traditional rice but the cooking has been the obstacle, this is the variety that removes it.
What it's like to eat
Lighter in colour than mappillai samba — a reddish-tan rather than deep red — and softer in texture. The flavour is mild and faintly nutty, without the assertiveness of the darker varieties.
That mildness is the point. Poongar goes with everything: sambar, rasam, curd, any kuzhambu. It doesn't compete with what you serve alongside it, which is why it works as an everyday rice rather than an occasion one.
What unpolished means
Polishing scrapes the bran layer off the grain to make it white, faster-cooking and longer-lasting. The colour and most of the fibre go with it.
Ours isn't polished, which is why the grain is reddish rather than white.
Why customers choose ALAI
- Unpolished, bran intact. No polishing to lighten the grain.
- A traditional native variety. Not a hybrid, not a blend.
- Cleaned and hand-sorted. Destoned and sieved before packing.
- Sourced from Tamil Nadu growers still cultivating native paddy.
- Nothing added. No polish, no colour, no coating.
How to cook it
Easier than the other traditional rices, but still not white rice — give it a soak.
Rinse and soak. Rinse twice, soak 45 minutes to an hour.
Pressure cooker — 1 cup rice to 2.5 cups water, 3 to 4 whistles, natural release.
Open pot — 1 cup to 3 cups water, boil 25–30 minutes until tender, drain any excess.
For kanji — 1 cup to 6 cups water, simmered until it breaks down.
For idli or dosai — swap poongar for the rice in your usual batter at the same ratio to urad dal. Soak a little longer than white rice. The batter ferments well and the dosai is softer than a mappillai samba one.
For curd rice — cook it soft with an extra half cup of water. Poongar makes better curd rice than the firmer traditional varieties.
What to make with it
Poongar sadam with any kuzhambu · Curd rice · Kanji · Puliyodarai · Lemon rice · Idli and dosai · Sweet pongal · Poongar adai
Product details
| Brand | ALAI |
| Variety | Poongar (traditional Tamil red rice) |
| Also known as | Poongar arisi, poongar samba |
| Processing | Dehusked, unpolished |
| Ingredients | 100% poongar rice. Nothing added. |
| Available in | 1 kg / 5 kg |
| Packaging | Food-grade sealed pouch |
| Shelf life | 12 months from packing |
| Storage | Airtight container in a cool, dry place |
| FSSAI Lic. No. | 22426306000092 |
A note on colour and shelf life
Shade varies between batches and harvests — that's the bran, not a defect. Unpolished rice carries natural oils in the bran, so it keeps less time than polished white rice. Six months in an airtight container is realistic. Decant a 10 kg sack into smaller jars rather than opening it repeatedly.
