Rice Pongal

Pongal is a comfort food for us and I prepare it once a week. I have heard that it is prepared as a breakfast dish in Tamil nadu. But for us its always a lunch menu. It's a complete food with rice, dal and veggies, so you get your carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals in one go. The best part is it can be prepared so quick in a pressure cooker and its such a simple recipe. Pongal is my first choice whenever I am lazy to cook or if I don't have time to spend in the kitchen. I have already posted the recipes of Cracked Wheat pongal  and Oats Pongal earlier. I prepare all these pongals in the same way and we love all the varieties.

What you need?

1 cup Rice

1/2 cup Moong dal

1/2 cup Veggies of your choice

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp crushed Peppercorns or ground Pepper

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

a pinch Asafoetida

4-5 Curry leaves

1/4 cup shredded Coconut (optional)

few Coriander leaves chopped

1 tsp Oil

4 cups Water

Salt

How to prepare?

Wash the rice and moong dal seperately, drain and keep aside.

Heat oil in pressure cooker. Splutter cumin seeds. Add crushed peppercorns or pepper powder and curry leaves, saute for few seconds. Add the moong dal and fry for a minute. Now add the rice and saute for a minute. Add vegetables to this and mix well. Pour in 4 cups of water. (I usually use 1:3 ratio for rice. Use your rice to water ratio and add an extra cup of water. It should work fine. Hence 4 cups of water here.) If you want it very mushy add more water.

Add salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida, coconut and corainder leaves. Mix well. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. Open when the pressure is completely released. Serve hot pongal with yogurt, pickle and papad.

Serves 3-4.