Rava pongal with Pongal Gojju

Rava Pongal:

Pongal is one of the most common variety of breakfast which you get to see in any south Indian hotel menu.The generous amounts of the usage of ghee in making pongal gives it a really melt in mouth texture and even makes it extra delicious.Pongal also takes part in the breakfast menu of many weddings in south India,it is generally paired with Idli,vada and dosa and the whole breakfast would be so satisfying for any one.The most common pongal you get in any hotel is ven pongal which is made with rice,the one which I am posting today is made up of rava which is quite easy to prepare when pressed for time.Pongal is generally paired up with sambar or chutney,but we do a different tangy gojju(a kind of tamarind stew) for it at home which goes really well with any kind of pongal.

Ingredients:
1 cup chiroti rava or regular Bombay rava/sooji
1/4 cup yellow moong dal
3 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 " ginger, finely chopped
8-10 curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped coriander(for garnish)
3 tbsp grated fresh coconut + 1tbsp grated coconut(for garnish)
10-12 cashew nuts, broken
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp pepper corns(roughly ground or whole)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of hing
4 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp oil

Method:

• Heat a tsp of ghee in a kadai and roast rava in it until it is fragrant and light,remove it and let it cool.
• Dry roast moong dal in another kadai and water to it and add a tsp of ghee,turmeric to it and let it come to a boil and lower the flame and cook until it is slightly mushy.Strain the dal and reserve the liquid.
• Heat 2 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp oil in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds and jeera.
• Add finely chopped ginger and green chillies and fry a bit,then add hing,curry leaves and add water to it.Measure the water reserved from boiled moong dal and in addition to that add water which should come to the ratio of 2 1/2 cups water for 1 cup of rawa.
• Let it come to a boil and add cooked moong dal,turmeric,salt and boil further for a minute.
• Now add roasted rava to it slowly and mix it simultaneously to avoid the formation of lumps.
• In a small tadka pan heat a tsp of ghee and add cashew nuts and fry until golden in color.
• Add grated coconut,fried cashew nuts and a tbsp of ghee and mix well.

Garnish with coriander and grated coconut and serve it hot with pongal gojju/jilakara gojju or coconut chutney or sambar or coconut-onion raita.

Pongal Gojju :

As pongal is very mildly spiced,a nice tangy gojju pairs up very well with pongal.This gojju(stew) is basically made with tamarind pulp and is well balanced with jaggery and powdered masala which takes the gojju and pongal combo to another level.

Ingredients:
1 amla sized tamarind
2 tbsp roasted gram/chutney dal/fried gram
1 tbsp grated dry coconut/fresh coconut
1/2 tsp grated jaggery
2-3 green chillies,finely chopped
4-5 curry leaves,torn
1 tsp jeera
2 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
a fat pinch of turmeric
a pinch of hing
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

• Dry roast jeera and grind it along with roasted gram,grated coconut,green chillies and salt to a coarse powder.
• Soak tamarind in water and squeeze the pulp and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a small kadai and crackle mustard seeds and add chana dal and urad dal and fry well.
• Add curry leaves and hing and fry for 1/2 minute.
• Add tamarind pulp with 1/4 cup water approximately and let it come a boil.
• Mix the ground powder with water and mix well and add this to the tamarind mixture and add grated jaggery,salt,turmeric powder and boil for a couple of minutes until it is thick.add water according to the requirement until you get a thick gravy consistency.

Serve it with pongal/rava pongal/oats pongal.

Note:
You can even add finely chopped onion while frying the tadka in gojju,it adds taste to gojju.

This breakfast combo ' Rava pongal with pongal gojju' is going to participate in srivalli's 'Breakfast Mela' event.