Ven Pongal

Pongal is a traditional south indian breakfast item. it requires rice and dal as main ingredients and can be cooked with very simple steps. my mother used to make ven pongal once in every week and compulsorily during the month of margazhi. during childhood days, i dislike the taste of this recipe. but when i started to cook on my own, i used to try different recipes Including this ven pongal recipe as it followed very simple steps. generally, ven pongal goes well with coconut chutney or sambar or even brinjal gotsu

Ingredients:

Raw rice – 1 cup
Mung dal – 3 tbsp
ghee – 2 tbsp
mustard seeds – 1 tsp
cumin seeds – 1 tsp
turmeric powder – 1 pinch
ginger grated – 1/4 tsp
pepper – 1/8 tsp
water – 3 cups
curry leaves
salt as required

Method:

Pressure cook rice, mung dal, turmeric powder and salt along with water for 5 whistles. ( I am using Instant-pot so using pressure cook mode for 5 minutes to cook)

Once cooked, take the vessel outside, smash the rice dal mixture with the back of laddle

in a pan, add ghee. Once hot, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter
now add cumin seeds, pepper, grated ginger, green chili. if adding cashew nuts, can be added now. Saute everything for 2-3 minutes
rice dal mix is added in the pan now, smash and mix together. let it cook for 1-2 minutes. in case if feel the mixture is thick, add 1/4 cup water to this