Growing up every Sunday we had ven pongal for breakfast. To be frank pongal is not something my sisters nor me look forward to. So every Sunday the same grumbling continued and my mom tried different things to make it interesting like make it a bit runny (we affectionately called it “thanni pongal”) and so on.
Little did I know that the tables will change after my wedding. My hubby loves pongal so much that he can just survive on it alone. So now I am making it every week for him even though I am not a big fan. It is very easy to prepare and is a win-win situation since nobody grumbles at the table. So here goes the recipe for the simple and easy Pongal.
Ingredients
1 cup sona masoori rice
1/2 cup moong dal
1/4 tsp asafoetida
2 tsp ghee/oil
3/4 tsp whole peppercorns
2 tsp cumin
a piece of ginger chopped
2 green chillies slit lengthwise
Cashews (optional)
curry leaves
5 cups water
Salt
Add 5 cups water to the rice and dal mixture and pressure cook along with asafoetida and salt.
Get the tadka ready. Tadka is basically the seasoning which imparts a lot of flavor to the dish. For this we heat the oil or ghee and to it we add the peppercorns, cumin, ginger, chilly, cashew and curry leaves.
When we open the pressure cooker this is how it looks.
Add the tadka to the pongal. Mix well.
Coconut chutney goes well with pongal. We do a different tadka for chutney. I just love the sizzle and aroma when the tadka is added to any dish.
So here it is the humble and simple pongal ready.
Enjoy!
Time for event participation. I am sending this entry to Srivalli’s Breakfast Mela.
Tips
1. I have done pongal with just pepper and cumin seasoning too. Add or omit the tadka ingredients based on what is on hand.
2. Ghee imparts that authentic flavor and if you are not watching calories then go for it.
3. The water measurement is based on the fact that I use 3 cups of water for 1 cup sona masoori rice and also we like it more mushy and thin.
