Recipe #10 OPOS Cookbook Project: Breakfast
What’s with all the fuss about pongal, B ? I asked my friend who (while training for a major triathlon event) used to cycle all the way from Bangalore to Krishnagiri every weekend, to eat hot pongal and vadas at a well known south indian food joint. True blue pongal fans, go to any lengths (pun intended) to eat good pongal. What is Pongal? If you approach it logically and deconstruct the dish, it is just a rice-lentil mash with flavorings. However, I think the dish is a perfect example of 2 core ingredients coming together with the right the amount of seasonings, creating synergies of well balanced flavors and taste.
With the OPOS pongal, you tend to hit the bulls-eye of the right or rather the desired consistency with minimum amount of fat in this case ghee, every time ! So here is to some awesome, OPOS Pongal !!
In a 2 litre PC, I assembled the following – 1/2 cup well washed raw rice, 1/4 cup moong dal,3 teaspoon ghee or clarified butter, 1 teaspoon each salt, coarsely crushed pepper , cumin and ginger, 1 sprig of curry leaves, and 2.5 cups of water. I cooked on high flame for 6 whistles which took me about 6-7 minutes.
Now, the amount of water is totally dependent on the consistency you want your pongal to be. You can go upto 4 cups of water if you want a more runny pongal. However, I usually stick to 2.5 cups to 3 cups depending on the rice variety, to get a nice non-sticky pongal that I can just scoop out in a plate. Also, with the amount of water you use, the PC invariably tends to foam and spray water while cooking. You can partially avoid this by using a slightly bigger pressure cooker.
I like to serve this Pongal piping hot with Kaara Chutney. Here is the link to the Kaara Chutney recipe –
- 1/2 cup Raw rice
- 1/4 cup Moong dal
- 3 teaspoons Ghee
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper coarsely crushed
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Ginger crushed or finely chopped
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 2 1/2 cups Water
- In a pressure cooker, assemble all of the ingredients along with water. Use a 3 litre to avoid foaming and water spraying while cooking.
- Cook on a high flame for 6 whistles or 7 minutes. Let the pressure settle by itself before opening the pc.
- Mash well with a back of laddle and serve.
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