Pulagam Pacchadi Recipe - Sankranti Recipe

Every region has their own specials and this Pulagam-Pacchadi is a combination which is quite popular in Rayalaseema region of Andhra.This can be prepared during Sankranti. Pulagam is a dry khichdi which is made up of rice and split green lentils unlike the regular Khichdi/pongal which is a soft version and made up of rice and yellow moong dal.

Pulagam is usually served with thick and coarse ground nut chutney in the Rayalaseema region and is a quite common meal in all house holds.Split green gram adds extra nutrition to the rice and also make it more tasty.You can give this dry khichdi a try for a change instead of pongal.

Pulagam Recipe | Rice and split Green gram dry Khichdi:

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice(sona masuri or equivalent)

1 cup split Green gram(split moong dal with skin)

3 cups Water(slightly less than 3 cups)

6-8 Cashew nuts,broken

3-4 Green chillies,slit

1/2" Ginger,finely chopped

8-10 Curry leaves

8-10 black Pepper corns,slightly crushed

1 tsp Cumin seeds

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Ghee

1 tbsp Oil

Method:

• Wash and soak rice and green gram for at least half an hour.
• Heat oil and ghee in a cooker and crackle cumin seeds.
• Add broken cashew nuts,pepper corns,chopped ginger and green chillies and fry for a minute or two.
• Add curry leaves and fry and add soaked and drained split moong dal and rice and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add water and salt and let it come to a boil.close it with lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles.Wait until the pressure drops.

Serve it with Palli pacchadi/Groundnut chutney.

Notes:

1. You can replace split green gram with yellow moong dal,but split green gram makes it taste different and is highly recommended to prepare pulagam.
2. The amount of water added makes the rice soft and moist but still with separate rice granules.You can add 1/4 cup water if you like it soft or reduce 1/4 cup water to make it bit more dry.

Palli (Verusenaga) Pacchadi | Groundnut Pacchadi :

Try this version of Palli (Verusenaga/groundnut) chutney with pulagam.It pairs nicely even with plain steamed rice or Idli/dosa.

Palli Pacchadi | Groundnut Pacchadi  Recipe:
 
Ingredients:

1/2 cup Groundnuts

a small Onion,sliced

1-2 Garlic pods(optional)

2-3 Red chillies

1 tsp Tamarind pulp

Salt to taste

1 tsp Oil

to temper:

1 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

5-6 Curry leaves

Method:

• Dry roast groundnuts and cool them.Peel the skins off and keep them aside.
• In a pan heat 1 tsp oil and add red chillies and fry and remove them and keep aside.Add sliced onions and garlic pods and fry until they turn pink.Let the mixture cool.
• Grind the roasted groundnuts with fried onion-garlic and red chillies,tamarind,salt to a thick and slight coarse paste.Do not grind it smooth.Add required water while grinding.
• In the same pan heat 1 tbsp oil and crackle mustard seeds and curry leaves and add this tempering to the groundnut chutney and mix well.

Serve it with Pulagam/plain steamed Rice.You can even serve it with Idli/Dosa,in that case grind the chutney to a smooth paste.

Notes:

1. You can even roast ground nuts in a tsp of oil.In that case you do not need to peel their skins.
2. Red chillies can be replaced with green chillies for different flavor.
3. Garlic pods can be avoided in the recipe if you wish.
4. Grind it to a coarse and thick chutney,it goes nicely with pulagam and even plain steamed rice.