Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Rava Pongal | Cream of wheat and lentil porridge

Wish you all a very happy Makar Sankranti | Lohri | Pongal!

Festival for me is all about having great time with family, cooking, eating & serving good food, not to forget to worship the God. We had a great weekend & hence was tired to cook elaborate meal on Monday morning. Since, it is the festival, I did not want to skip the tradition of making the pongal, both khara & sweet! I made this rava pongal instead of the regular rice pongal.

Pongal tastes divine with just a couple of ingredients that goes in. The magic of pongal lies in the ghee/clarified butter that is added!


Here goes the recipe for it.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins (except the lentil cooking time)
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:
  • Moong dal/Split green gram lentils/Hesaru bele: 1/3 cup
  • Cream of wheat/Rava/Uppittu rave: 1 cup
  • Ghee/Clarified butter/Tuppa: 3 tbsp(divided use)
  • Pepper powder: 1/4 tsp
  • Pepper pods: 6-8 nos
  • Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
  • Cashew nuts: a fistful
  • Curry leaves: 4-5 nos, torn
  • Salt: As needed
  • Water: 3 cups
Method:

  • Heat the 1 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker. When ghee is hot, throw in the moong dal & saute the dal on medium heat until it slightly changes its color. Add in around a cup of water & pressure cook the dal for two whistles or 15 mins on medium heat. Allow it to cool.
  • Meantime, heat a tbsp of ghee in a wok. When hot, throw in the cream of wheat & roast on a medium heat for 5-7 mins. The cream of wheat should turn golden brown & the aroma of the roasted rava should fill your kitchen!
  • Boil 3 cups of water in a sauce pan.
  • When the lentils are cooled, mash them thoroughly. (Refer notes)
  • Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a broad pan. When ghee is hot, add in the cumin seeds & the cashew nuts. When nuts turn golden brown, throw in the curry leaves, pepper pods & pepper powder.
  • When curry leaves wilt, add the hot water & salt.
  • Pour in the roasted rava & mix well. Ensure no lumps.
  • Add in the mashed dal & mix again. Cook it covered over low-medium heat for couple of minutes.
  • Turn off the heat. Add couple of teaspoons of ghee, mix well & serve!


Notes:

  1. My family prefers grainy dal over completely mashed. Hence, I keep them a little coarse (as seen in the picture).
  2. Coconut chutney & kootu is a great combination for pongal.

9 comments:

  1. Such a wonderful twist to our usual pongal.Delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the frainly texture of this yummy looking pongal. Best wishes of Pongal dear..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Perfectly done. I get a stiff texture always :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice twist on the traditional pongal..My little boy would down it without a word!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautifully done sushma. Love the texture

    ReplyDelete
  6. So love the simplicity of this amazing South Indian staple.. so many diff ways to make it..

    ReplyDelete

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