Jan 24, 2009

PONGAL ( RICE COOKED WITH SPLIT GREEN GRAM )



Serves 2-3 people.


Ingredients:
plain raw rice - 200 gms (approx-1teacup)
Split green gram - 1/4 cup
Asafoetida powder - a pinch


Tempering :
Ghee+ cooking oil - 4-5 Tbsp ( if u r calorie conscious can reduce ghee and add more cooking oil )
Whole pepper corns - 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 2 Tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Finely chopped ginger - 2 Tsp
Green chillies - 2 (slit length wise)

METHOD :
Dry roast the split green gram in a pan slightly till it gives a good aroma on low flame. Make sure it does not turn brown. Now wash the rice along with roasted split green gram for 2-3 times. Add water to the rice and split green gram mixture ( the ratio is for rice add water as 1:3 and for split green gram it is 1:1) add 3 and 1/4 cups of water and asafoetida powder and pressure cook it till it gives 5 whistles.

Now for tempering add oil+ghee mixture to a pan and when it becomes hot put the peppercorns, cumin seeds, chopped ginger and green chillies one by one and fry till ginger slightly changes colour. You can add salt as per taste in the tempering or you can add it along with the rice before pressure cooking. ( I noticed if I add salt with rice before pressure cooking the rice does not cook properly so I add it in the tempering).

After the pressure drops open the lid and add the tempering to the rice mixture and and mix nicely. The rice should be mashed nicely with the help of a round ladle. Serve hot with sambar, chutney.

P.S This is a very healthy dish and in South India this is a special dish served in all special occasions like marriages, parties, and in festivals like diwali and pongal. If you don't like to have whole pepper corns you can ground pepper corns along with cumin seeds in a mixer to a coarse powder and add it to the tempering.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous27.1.09

    You have some very nice recipes on here! I will have to maybe come borrow one sometime! :)

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  2. Anonymous27.1.09

    You are most welcome Fitness Diva; I'm a vegetarian but still cant remain fit like you. May be I should come nd ask some secret tips from you to remain fit LOL :))

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  3. Anonymous30.1.09

    Wow, that is indeed delicious. My mother used to cook us almost similar dish, we call it valenciana, a rice-based recipe with lots of vegies and little meat.

    tc!

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  4. Anonymous30.1.09

    Hi djtammy, There are many different rice-based recipes in India. In the southern part of India where I belong to rice is the main food. Like you said we used to cook another rice-based recipe with lot of vegetables in it called biryani with lot of spices. Non vegetarians used to replace vegetables with chicken or mutton in the same dish :)

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  5. Anonymous30.1.09

    Certainly look delicious. I would like to try

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  6. Anonymous30.1.09

    Hi Dorion, Thank you so much for visiting veggie veg. If you try let me know how it came out :)

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  7. Anonymous31.1.09

    Hmmmm yummy..Ki$$ing your Resep :)


    http://friedricerecipe.blogspot.com/

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  8. Anonymous12.2.09

    Hi Sudha, first time here you have a wonderful space here....pongal looks delicious !

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  9. Anonymous12.2.09

    Hi Usha, Thank you so much.. I visited your blog and you have amazing yummy veg recipes out there!!! I don't frequently update my blog but I should do that.

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  10. I think I'm going to love this section. As a vegetarian, I'm always looking for new and tasty recipes!

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