Rava Pongal / Sooji Pongal

Wishing you all a very happy Pongal…The second day of the pongal is “Thai Pongal” and it falls on the first day of the tamil month “Thai”. On this day we make “Chakkarai Pongal” and “Ven pongal”. For people who want to try something different other than regular ven pongal, here is the recipe for “Rava Pongal”. It is very easy to make and it will taste very good.

Time of Preparation : 30 minutes
Spice level : 3
No of Servings : 3
Ingredients:

• Rava – 1 cup
• Moong dal – 1/2 cup
• Water (for dal) – 3 cups
• Water (for rava) – 2 1/2 cups
• Salt – to taste
• Black pepper – 1 tsp (crushed coarsely)
• Cumin seeds – 3/4 tsp
• Green chillies – 2 (slit lengthwise)
• Ginger – 1 tsp (grated)
• Curry leaves – a few
• Cashews – 1 tbsp (chopped)
• Ghee – 1/4 cup

Method of Preparation:

1. Roast the rava and moong dal separately with ghee till they get just warm.
2. The color of them should not change.
3. Pressure cook the moong dal for 3 to 4 whistles and mash it completly.
4. Add 2 1/2 cup of water to the cooked dal and let it boil.
5. When the water starts to boil, add the required amount of salt and then add the rava in low heat and stir continuously so that there are no lumps.
6. At this time add the ghee and turn off the heat when the rava gets cooked completely.
7. It will take just 5 minutes to cook rava.
8. Take 1 tbsp of ghee in a seasoning pan add the pepper followed by cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger and finally the curry leaves.
9. Mix them with the pongal and roast the cashews in another tsp of ghee until they become golden brown.
10. Add the cahews to the pongal and mix everything well.
11. Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar.