Just for Foodies!!: Broken Wheat Pongal (Savory)

Helloooo,

Pongal is a special food in South India, prepared on a special occasion, called "Pongal". There are many varieties of Pongal. Usually these are made of rice and yellow moon dal. Here I replaced rice with broken wheat. It tastes equally good and is a perfect menu for dinner. (In fact you dont have to worry about the calories). This is a very flavorful and aromatic dish.
Here, I am going to show you the spicy version of Pongal. After many trial and errors, now I can say that, I can prepare an error free Pongal dish . The taste not only depends on the seasoning, but also in roasting the lentil and wheat and cooking them together with some spices to add extra flavor to it.

Ingredients

For cooking the lentil and broken wheat

Yellow moong dal - 3/4 cup
Broken wheat - 1 cup
Ghee / oil - 3 tsp
Ginger - 1 small piece, grated
Cumin and pepper crushed - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 2 , slit
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Water - 6 cups

For Seasoning

Ghee - 3 tsp
Cumin and pepper crushed - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 1, slit
Ginger - 1 tsp, minced
Red Chillies - 2, broken
Cashews - 6 - 10
Curry leaves - 1 spring

Method

For cooking Lentil and Broken Wheat

Soak moong dal in water for 1 hour.

Wash it well and drain the water. Transfer this to a pressure cooker and turn on the heat to, medium to low. Keep frying for 1 minute and add the ghee / oil. Fry them until it starts changing the colour. By doing so, the flavor of the dish will be enhanced.

Now, add the broken wheat and mix well. Keep mixing it for a minute.

Add 6 cups of water, salt, turmeric, green chillies, ginger, crushed cumin and pepper.

Close the pressure cooker lid and let it cook for 6 whistles.

Let the pressure get released by itself and then open the lid. While the pressure comes down, make the seasoning ready.

For Seasoning

Heat ghee (only) in a pan. Add crushed pepper and cumin, green chillies and ginger. and fry for few seconds
Now add Cashews and fry until it becomes slightly golden in color. Add red chillies and curry leaves.