Ven Pongal
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Ven Pongal is a savory south Indian breakfast food which is made using rice and yellow moong dal, tempered with cumin seeds, black peppercorns, ginger, curry leaves and ghee and garnished with cashew nuts.
| Ingredients: |
| 1/4 cup Rice (short grained rice) |
| 1/4 cup Moong Dal |
| 2 cups Water |
| Salt to taste |
| 1½ tablespoons Ghee |
| 6-8 Cashew Nuts, broken into pieces |
| A pinch of Hing (asafoetida) |
| 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds |
| 1/2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns (whole or crushed) |
| 1/2 teaspoon grated Ginger (or finely chopped) |
| 5-7 Curry Leaves |
Directions:
- Take moong dal in a steel/aluminium pressure cooker (used 3-litre capacity) and roast it over a low flame until it turns slightly light brown. Turn off the flame.
- Add rice.
- Pour water over rice and moong dal and wash them together for 2-3 times. Drain excess water. Add 2 cups water and salt to taste.
- Close the cooker and pressure cook for 4-5 whistles over medium flame. Turn off the flame. Let it cool until pressure releases naturally.
- Meanwhile, heat 1½ tablespoons ghee in a small pan over low flame. Add 6-8 cashew nuts and shallow-fry for a minute.
- Add a pinch of hing(asafoetida), 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger and curry leaves. Stir and cook until cashew nuts turn slightly golden. Turn off the flame.
- When the pressure releases naturally, open the lid.
- Mash the cooked dal-rice mixture with the backside of a spoon until it turns slightly mushy.
- Pour seasoning mixture over it.
- Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes. Ven Pongal is ready. Serve it hot with coconut chutney and vegetable sambar.
Tips and Variations:
- Don’t skip adding ghee as it is a key ingredient to get nice flavor of the pongal.
- Dry roast the moong dal in bulk and store the roasted dal in a container to speed up the process.
- To speed up the cooking process, soak rice and dal in water for approx. 20-minutes before pressure cooking them and cook for 3-whistles.
- Make sure that the moong dal doesn’t turn dark brown while roasting it in step-1.
Taste: Mild spicy and soft
Serving Ideas: Serve it hot with sambar and white coconut chutney or green coconut chutney in the breakfast or lunch.
Recipe printed from : https://foodviva.com
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