Saturday, July 12, 2008

Pongal. (venn pongal)

Pongal also known as venn pongal (white pongal) is an authentic meal of India. Often it is served as a breakfast in Indian marriages. Mostly people prefer to have ulunthu vadai ,Idly-sambar and coconut chutney as side dish for pongal.
(you can see my menu card for their recipes too.)


Ingredients :
Raw Rice (pacha arisi or briyani rice) - 1 cup
Moong dal (green gram dhal) - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Ginger-1 inch piece (chopped)
salt - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Pepper corns -2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig.
Asafoetida / hing -1/4 tsp
clarified Butter/Ghee/ butter- 4 tbsp
Water- 4 cups
milk - 1/2 cup (optional)
Cashews- 10 numbers.


Methods :
Heat a Pan .Dry roast rice and dhal, till we get a nice aroma of dhal.
Wash them .Add salt and water .
Keep it in a pressure cooker and allow 4 whistles.
(If you are cooking in a pan, cover it and have a look often. Because the dhal will rise up and overflow when hot.)
After cooking the rice and dhal tenderly, mash them mildly.(not like a paste, but gently.)
Heat a frying pan. Add the ghee.
Add Cumin , Ginger ,cashews, hing and whole pepper.
Immediately after the cashews turn golden in color, add them to pongal .
Serve hot.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with coconut cutney, Idly-sambar, ulunthu(black gram) vadai.
Serves 3 people.
It can be served as both breakfast or dinner.

Note:
Always keep the pongal in a tight lided vessel to retain moisture.
If it gets hard, don't shy to add little milk and reheat before serving. 

7 comments:

Grace said...

I tried this recipe and it came out very well.Hats off!!!
Priya Rajan

Anonymous said...

I am gonna try this!! :)

Anonymous said...

Im gonna try it!! :)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Madhu, I am so happy that you are gonna try it. Always be careful with cooking da....I think am imagining you as a small child. Enjoy the weekend and be happy always. Hugs:)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Priya: Thanks dear.

Happy heart said...

Viki, you know what, I want the pongal to be runny as against the congealed consistency I get when I pressure cook it. So, I cook it in a pan. The consistency seems ok. But, I would like the consistency to be how it is in this photo. Any suggestions?

Vikis Kitchen said...

Happy heart: Thanks for asking dear. Pongal always tend to get hard when it gets colder. There are some ways to retain the texture.
1. we can increase the moong dal amount by adding 2 tbsp extra.
2. Always use raw rice (pacha arisi)...it gives good flavor and retains the moisture.
3.I make this in pressure cooker and it stays good eve after it is cold.
4.Some people suggest adding milk while adding water. I have tried it by adding 1/2 cup milk and it tastes good. But I add more water if the rice needs it after cooking. Bring it to a boil after adding extra water.
5. I have mentioned 4 tbsp ghee in this recipe, as it is the traditional recipe. But I add 2 tbsp ghee only.pls read again for ingredients and notes.
There was some typo in the post and I corrected it.
6. Keep the pongal moist by keeping it closed it immediately after preparing. The steam that condenses will make it soft after it looses the heat too. I have seen people putting a banana leaf over the pongal (just like idly) before placing the lid while serving:)

I think the last point will definitely keep the pongal gooey:)

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