Ven Pongal -Comfy food

 Comfy traditional meal!Who won't love it??

It can be for breakfast/lunch/dinner,love to have anytime of  the day.

In school days or even during college my mom used to pack it for lunch with chutney or sambar along with medu vada and I used to wait for my lunch break!!!:-).Its last period before the lunch break and used to curse the lecturer hahaha........golden days of life rite?.Remembering a hindi song-Dil hai chota sa,choti si aasha.

Sankranti/pongal festival is never complete without this recipe.You ask your neighbours and friends in South India..whats special for sankranti? everyone answers pongal......

Pongal is made for sankranti with newly harvested rice which tend to get mushy when cooked.Until and unless you have farm ,we have to add extra water to compensate.

Pongal is offered for God as Prasad and is served in many temples.Kote Venkataramana Swamy Temple (beautiful architecture) in Bangalore makes very yummy pongal prasad. If you give some amount,they will offer to God make nivedhyam and pack the rest for you.You have lot of options like puliyogre/curd rice and much more.Everything is tasty.

Remembering so many things from pongal!:-)

 I use rice cooker a lot! Instead of pressure cooking rice+dal I did that in rice cooker and it worked like a charm.Since I need to add extra water to make it mushy,litlle water came out, but my kitchen towel helped me.This was easier than assembling pressure cooker.Try it out!

Here is what you need

Rice........................1.5 cup
Moong Dal.............3/4 cup
ghee........................2 Tbspn
oil............................3 Tbspn
cumin seeds.............1 tspn
curry leaves.............2 string
ginger grated...........1 inch
whole black pepper..1 tspn
green chilly slit.........1
cashew pieces ........ 1 Tbspn
Avarekai(optional)..1/2 cup
(surti papdi lilva)
fresh/frozen grated coconut-1 Tbpsn

Here is what you need to do

Well cooked rice and dal+Tempering+ boil for few minutes-->Pongal

1)Fry the moong dal till light golden brown.It should not have dark/black spots.

2)Combine dal and rice,green chilly,avarekai..

3)Pressure cook it with 5 cups of water for 3 whistles.It should be very well cooked ie,soft and mushy

4) Heat ghee + oil in a pan.Once hot add cumin seeds after few seconds add roughly crushed whole pepper powder,curry leaves,ginger,cashews,coconut & the cooked rice dal.

5)Add salt ,mix well and let it boil for 5 min.

6)Enjoy

Never make pongal without its companion ie, gojju/gothsu.Great pair!

  click here for gojju recipe                       

Best Combination Meal

(click on the them for detailed recipes)

Pongal,Medu Vada,Sambar

Pongal gojju/gothsu

Note

1)When u add pressure cooked rice and dal you can also add 1/2 cup hot water .I think mine was not so old rice and was very soft.

2)I used sonamasuri rice,you can also use raw rice.

3)Avarekai(surti papdi lilva) is optional but tastes really great.If it is not in season try to find it in frozen section.