Friday, January 27, 2017

Keerai Pongal, Spinach Pongal


          Today's post is going to be a simple and delicious pongal, Keerai Pongal or Spinach Pongal. I used to make this Spinach Pongal a lot when we were in the US. I always had frozen chopped spinach in the freezer and so this dish could be put together in minutes, here in India, I don't get frozen spinach, so I use fresh spinach. It's a very easy dish, serve it with some Onion And Tomato Gothsu for a complete and delicious meal..

Need To Have

  • Raw Rice/Pachai Arisi - 1 cup
  • Moong Dal/Husked Split Green Gram - 1/2 cup
  • Chopped Spinach - 3 cups, packed
  • Cashews - 6, broken into pieces
  • Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon, coarsely pounded
  • Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • Ginger - 1" piece, grated
  • Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
  • Salt To Taste

Method


          Dry roast the moong dal, then wash it along with the rice, drain and keep. Take the rice and moong dal in a pressure pan, add the chopped spinach and 5 cups of water and salt. Cover and cook, after 1 whistle, reduce the heat completely and cook for 5 minutes and switch off. Once all the pressure is released, open the pressure pan.


          Heat a tablespoon of oil and a little ghee, add the cashews, cumin and pepper, once the cashews turn golden, add the ginger and asafoetida, mix and add it to the cooked rice-dal-spinach. Mix and serve it warm with the Gothsu.


Note
You can replace the raw rice with millets, equal mixture of rice and quinoa and make the Pongal healthier.
I have limited the oil and ghee, you can add more ghee if you want.
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