Venn Pongal

Submitted by alvinakatz

"This is a spicy rice and lentil Indian dish. In the south of India, you eat this to celebrate the harvest. It comes from a cookbook called Cook and See that I got on a trip to India. Very hard for most Americans to dicepher the instructions so I'm writing it out in a more user-friendly way."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1⁄2 cup green gram dal (aka moong dal)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 12 cashews, quartered
• 1⁄2 inch fresh ginger, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 cup butter (aka clarified butter) or 1/4 cup ghee (aka clarified butter)
• 4 -5 curry leaves (optional)

directions

1. Dry fry the green gram dal lightly.
2. Put the dal, salt and rice in 3 cups water and bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, stirring often until rice is soft and water is absorbed.
3. Make a course powder of the cumin seeds and black pepper either in a morter and pestle or a spice grinder (I use a Magic Bullet).
4. In a pan, heat ghee or butter, fry the cashews lightly and add the spice powder until it is scalded. Add the ginger and scald a bit more.
5. Pour the mixture into the rice and stir well. Optionally, curry leaves may be added.