Ven pongal (khara pongal)
Today being Sunday, we ate heavy breakfast. By afternoon, we wanted to eat something light and easy on stomach. I made ven pongal or khara pongal for lunch. Usually ven pongal is made for breakfast but it was our lunch today. Ven pongal is a type of moong dal khichdi except that the seasoning is different.
Recipe of ven pongal/ khara pongal
1 cup rice
1/2 cup dhuli moong dal (split, skinless green gram)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp ginger paste
6-7 black peppercorns (kali mirch) - crushed coarsely
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3 1/2 cups of water
Lightly fried or toasted cashew nuts for garnish
1. Wash and soak rice and moong dal together for 10 minutes. Drain.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add ginger paste and crushed peppercorns. Fry for 1 minute.
3. Add rice and dal and stir fry for 1 minute.
4. Add water and salt. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.
5. Garnish ven pongal with fried cashew nuts and serve hot.
