Pongal is the most simplest and easiest breakfast recipe. Making pongal at home is a breeze. It has just 2 steps. Cook rice and dal and then do the seasoning. Today we will learn the Tamil style of preparing khara pongal recipe.
Dry roast moong dal and rice separately until it is hot to touch. Do not over fry it.
Fry cashew nuts in a tsp of ghee and keep it aside.
Mix both rice and dal, pressure cook adding salt, 2 1/2 – 3 cups of water for 4-5 whistles.(I used old rice, so added 3 cups of water).The rice has to be cooked in such a way that it should be mushy.
Open the cooker once the pressure subsides and mash the contents well when it is hot (You can cook rice directly in the cooker also or as I have done).
Heat oil + ghee, add finely chopped ginger, saute for 2-3 seconds, then add pepper, jeera seeds (you can pound pepper and jeera slightly for more flavor), curry leaves and pour it over the rice + dal mix.
Add fried cashew nuts and mix everything well. Alternatively you can add rice+dal mix to the seasoning as I have done and mix well on low flame for 2 minutes. Switch off and serve hot with sambar or gothsu or coconut chutney.