I was never a Pongal fan until I became pregnant with my first born. I used to crave for a few things and Pongal was high on that list. Not just any Pongal. But Pongal from a small little restaurant in San Jose called Komala Vilas. My husbands friend, whom we called Thambi used to come and stay with us over the weekends. Thambi is a foodie. He loved to eat out. So every Saturday, we would get up late, get ready and drive straight to Komala Vilas and have piping hot Pongal. Their Pongal was different. Pepper and Cumin was never whole in their Pongal. It was crushed, fried and then added. This little step took their dish to another different level. ‘What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?’ – Anthony Bourdain.
So lets make some awesome Pongal. Come with me.
Soak half a cup of rice in water. Preferably raw rice. I used Sona Masuri rice. Once we have done that, lets roast some lentils. Take half a cup of split moong dal and dry roast it on a very low flame until you can smell the roasted dal. It would take approximately 3 minutes. Don’t roast for long. Cook the dal and rice together in a pressure cooker with 4 cups of water for a good 15 minutes or 10-12 whistles. We need to cook it until well done. I dont add the rice and dal directly in the cooker. I place some water in the cooker and place a bowl inside and add the rice, dal and water to the bowl. This way the rice mixture does not scorch in the bottom.
Coarsely grind pepper and cumin with the help of a mortar and pestle. Set aside. Mince a teaspoon of ginger very finely. You will need some green chillies and curry leaves too.
Heat some ghee and oil in a pan. I used 2 tablespoons of ghee and a tablespoon of oil. Add in the broken cashew nut, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies. Roast on a low flame. Once the nuts are roasted add in the pepper-cumin mixture. Roast briefly for 20 seconds.
Add in the cooked rice-dal mixture and salt. Mix everything to combine. Saute briefly for a minute or two. Remove off heat.
Serve hot with chutney and sambar.
- ½ cup Raw rice (sona masuri)
- ½ cup split moong dal
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 Tablespoon broken cashewnut
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Soak half a cup of rice in water. Take half a cup of split moong dal and dry roast it on a very low flame until you can smell the roasted dal. It would take approximately 3 minutes. Don’t roast for long. Cook the dal and rice together in a pressure cooker with 4 cups of water for a good 15 minutes or 10-12 whistles.
- Coarsely grind pepper and cumin with the help of a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- Heat some ghee and oil in a pan. I used 2 tablespoons of ghee and a tablespoon of oil. Add in the broken cashew nut, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies. Roast on a low flame. Once the nuts are roasted add in the pepper-cumin mixture. Roast briefly for 20 seconds.
- Add in the cooked rice-dal mixture and salt. Mix everything to combine. Saute briefly for a minute or two.
- Remove off heat.