Pongal

I was introduced to Pongal by one of my friends from Bangalore. I had always thought that pongal was a sweet dish until I had Pongal at her home. She informed me that there was a sweetish pongal recipe for festive occasions and a kichidi-type rice recipe for main course. I often make pongal for dinner as it provides both proteins and carbohydrates in the same dish. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice or any other rice which you prepare for dinner
1 cup moong dal
1 teaspoon pepper corns
2 green chilies or as per taste
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon ghee (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoon chopped cashew nuts
2 tablespoon raisins
5-6 kadipatta or curry leaves
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon oil
salt

Method
Wash the rice and dal thoroughly and cook it with green chilies, pepper corns, salt and ginger. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Fry for 30 seconds and add cashew nuts, raisins and curry leaves. Fry till the cashews are light brown. Add the cooked rice and dal and mix thoroughly. Add the milk and adjust salt. Serve with turai chutneyor dahi.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2-3