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.