Ven Pongal (Spicy Pongal)

Ven(White) pongal is a popular dish in most South Indian homes and is typically served as a special breakfast mostly on festive days. The aroma of spicy hot pongal served with ghee....yumm!! This is one of my favorite breakfast menu items and is a healthy combination of rice and moong dal.

I have been wanting to post this recipe for quite sometime now.There can be no better time to share this recipe than on the eve of Thai Pongal or Sankaranthi festival! 

Time:Making Time (20 mins)

Difficulty level:Easy

Ingredients:

• Raw rice - 1 Cup
• Moong Dhal - 1/2 Cup
• 2 tsp Black Pepper Corn
• 2 tsp Cumin(Jeera) seeds
• 1/2" Ginger,finely chopped 
• Curry leaves - 10-20
• a pinch of Asafoetida(Hing)
• Ghee - 4-5 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Cashews 10-15 (broken) for garnish

Preparation:

1. In a vessel,Dry roast the moong dhal lightly for a couple of mins and keep aside
2. Heat Oil/Ghee in a pressure cooker,add the pepper corns,cumin seeds,curry leaves and allow it to splutter.
3. To this add the finely chopped ginger and a pinch of asafoetida and saute.
4. In the same pan, add the roasted moong dhal and washed rice to it.
5. Add salt and 5-6 cups of water and simmer until it cooks.
6. Fry the cashews in ghee and add it to the cooked Pongal and serve hot with a spoon of ghee.It tastes great with coconut chutney and sambhar to go along with it, it tastes best with Gotsu :)

Chef's Tip:
To get the exact taste,the rice to dal proportion is usually 1: 1/2. Add water accordingly such that the rice & dhal cooks very well... for 1.5 cups (1 cup Rice + 1/2 cup Dhal), add 5 cups of water.