Ven pongal recipe

Pongal is a 4 day harvest festival celebrated in tamil nadu , the place I was born and bought up ..In north it is celebrated in the name of makar sakranti / Lohri . Pongal is on 15th I have some nostalgic memories about this festival. The first day of pongal was meant to burn all the unwanted accessories in our home , so when we wake in the morning it was all smoky in the morning .As we were surrounded my tamil makkal the night before pongal my neighbors used put beautiful rangoli’s which we loved to watch. We as a kid used to wait for this festival to taste the ganna/ sugar cane we just loved to use our teeth to peel all the sugar cane skin and just chew the juice was so much fun, our neighbors were always kind enough to share pongal and the palagaram they made with us and the whole day we used to keep on munching some pongal delicacies , Miss those times.

Pongal is usually made in open fire on a pot which is very traditional way of making them but as at home it might not be possible for everyone to do so, but still nothing can beat a pongal made in vengalle pathuram/ earthen pots.When it comes to pongal sakkarai pongal is most important but as already posted it, I wanted to share Ven pongal which our family fav breakfast but we some time tend to have it for lunch too. A perfect Ven pongal needs ghee as a important ingredient , as it is mild in taste the flavor of ghee makes this dish divine. Mom adds green chillies and turmeric pd to the ven pongal thats how my H even likes but it can be skipped and ven pongal can be made white too. Lets quickly move on to the deliciously yummy pongal recipe. Happy Pongal to each and every one. Lets say Pongalo Pongal!!!

Ven Pongal

Category	Preparation time	Cook Time
Pongal Recipes	5 mins	15 mins

Ingredients

Rice – 1 cup
Split yellow gram dal/ Pasi paruppu / Moong dal – 1/2 cup

Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp

Pepper corn – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 3-4 Nos
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Curry Leaves – 1 sprig
Cashews – 2-3 Nos
Salt to taste

Method

In a pressure cooker heat ghee, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
After the splutter add curry leaves , green chillies, pepper corn saute.
Add washed rice and moong dal. mix them well.
Add about 5-6 cups of water, turmeric pd and salt.
Close the lid and put the weight/whistle on.
Cook them for 3-4 whistles.
In a pan heat 1 tsp of ghee and saute cashews till golden brown.
After the pressure subsides open the lid and give it a nice stir .
Pour the roasted cashews on top and serve the pongal hot with sambhar and chutney.