Ven pongal ( savory pongal)

Pongal is the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu where I’m from . It is also the name of the food that is made on that day from the newly harvested rice ! The type of savory pongal made on the day is a little different that this dish. On pongal we just boil rice with salt and milk in a pot and use it as a base to eat with other accompaniments. We make a sweet pongal and a few other dishes on that day as well

Growing up we looked forward to pongal since we went to our grandparents house and hung out with all our cousins. My grandparents were farmers ( rice, coconut) so it was a particularly festive occasion! 

Ingredients 

Rice - 1 cup 

Moong dal ( dehusked split green gram )- 1/2 cup

Ginger - small piece peeled and cut into pieces 

Black peppercorn - 1.5 tsp

Cumin seed - 1.5 tsp

Salt- to taste

Ghee ( clarified butter, you can use regular butter too) 3-5 tbsp 

Cashews- 10

Curry leaf - 5

Instructions 

1. Wash the rice with water until the water is clear. Drain and set aside.

2. Dry roast the moong dal for 1-2 minutes until raw smell is gone . Don’t let it burn 

3. You can cook the rice and dal on a pot on the stove, in a pressure cooker or the easiest would be to cook it in an instant pot

4. Place the rice and dal in the instant pot container. Add 5 cups of water and pressure cook it in the instant pot for 30 minutes 

5. Once the rice and dal are cooked, use a spoon to mix it together.

6. Now take a large heavy bottomed pot and place on medium heat on the stove 

7. Add a tablespoon of ghee and roast the cashews until golden brown and set aside.

8.Add 2 more tablespoons of ghee and sauté the ginger, peppercorns, cumin , and curry leaves. ( I typically grind the peppercorns and cumin into a coarse powder and then use that mixture instead of whole spices)

9. Now add the dal and rice mixture to the pot and mix in well with the spices

10. Add salt to taste and add the roasted cashews. 

11. Add a few more tablespoons of ghee ( optional)

12. Pongal is now ready to serve 

13. You can serve it with  coconut Chutney and as an added bonus with  Madhu vada