I prepare this dish after my Wednesday morning yoga class. It is highly appreciated and is a wonderfully soothing, warm first meal.

Pongal is favourable for all seasons, especially in the cooler months.  I serve it with tamarind gojju, steamed greens and seasonal fruits.

~ Calendula in the garden  ~

pongal

preparation 10 minutes

cooking time 35 minutes

serves 4 – 6

If you want to make this a simple, cleansing first meal after a day of fasting, omit the cashew nuts. Use only white rice; any other whole rice will change the overall flavour. 

ingredients

1 cup/200g white basmati

1 cup/200g moong dal, split

10 cups water

2¼ flat tsp fine rock salt

1 cup/80g dried shredded coconut

¼ cup finely chopped coriander

voggarane

½ cup ghee – melted

1 heaped tsp whole black peppercorns

10 cashews nuts

1½ tsp heaped cumin seeds

¼ heaped tsp turmeric powder

¼ flat tsp asafoetida powder

20 fresh curry leaves

serve

tamarind gojju

steamed broccoli

preparation

  1. In a saucepan, wash the dal several times until the water runs clear. Drain, then pour 10 cups of water into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer. (Do not cover the pot; this allows certain impurities or energetic imbalances to be eliminated.) You may need to skim off any foam that accumulates at the top at the beginning of boiling.
  2. Simmer for 20 – 30 minutes. Depending on your Pongal’s preferred consistency, you may need to add more water.
  3. While waiting for the rice and dal to cook, roughly grind peppercorns in a mortar and pestle and break the cashew nuts in half and half again. Measure the remaining spices for the voggarane and chop the fresh coriander.  Set aside.
  4. When the rice and dal have softened sufficiently, turn off the heat and stir in salt, dried coconut and fresh coriander.

voggarane

  1. Heat a small pan over medium heat. Add ghee, ground peppercorns, and cashew pieces. Stir once, then allow the ghee to heat, the peppercorns to fry, and the cashews to turn golden—2 minutes.
  2. Turn off the heat and quickly add cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric, and curry leaves—in this order. Fry for 30 seconds, swishing the pan around to ensure the spices fry evenly.
  3. Pour the voggarane into the rice and dal, mixing well.  You may need to swish the pan with hot water to get all the remaining spices.
  4. Allow to sit for 5 minutes for the flavours to be absorbed before serving. Enjoy as is with a spoon of ghee, or my preferred way of serving Pongal is with tamarind gojju and lightly steamed greens.

Goodness shared from Stacey