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

Lemon rice

Ingredients 

Cooked rice - 1 cup (cooking rice)

Lemon- 1

Salt- to taste 

Sesame Oil -1-2 tbsp ( I typically use sesame oil from the Indian store not the toasted sesame oil which changes the taste of these dishes. If you don’t have access to sesame oil you can use canola or vegetable oil too)

For seasoning 

Black Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal- Split dehusked black gram - 1 tsp 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 

Ginger - cut into small pieces- 1 tsp

Asafoetida - pinch

Green chilly- 1-2 de seeded and finely chopped

Curry leaf - 4 or 5

Cilantro leaves - chopped 1 Tsp

Salt to taste 

Oil - 1 tbsp for tempering the seasoning 

Peanuts - 2to 3 tbsp 

Instructions 

1. Take the cooked rice and put it in a bowl
2. Add 1 to 2 tbsp of oil to it and mix it so the rice is coated with oil
3. Cut the lemon and squeeze the juice from it into a cup  and add salt to it. Then add it little by little to the rice ( to desired tartness). 
4. Place a pan on the stove at medium heat and add a tbsp of oil to it . Place the peanuts in here and sauté them until slightly brown and set aside
5. Add a little bit of oil to the pan and heat it up and then add the mustard and urad dal seeds and let them sputter. Add the turmeric powder and sauté it .Then add the other ingredients listed in the seasoning in the order in which listed and set aside
   
   
6. To the bowl of lemon rice that has been set aside add the peanuts and seasoning and mix well. Lemon rice is now ready to serve. You can eat it with potato poriyal (potato poriyal),potato chips, papad etc.