Little millet rava and moong dal simmered soft together, heavy with coarsely crushed pepper, cumin and ghee-fried cashews. One pan, twenty minutes.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Little Millet Rava 1 cup (about 180 g)
Fresh
- Split yellow moong dal 1/3 cup
- Ghee 3 tbsp
- Black peppercorns, coarsely crushed 1.5 tsp
- Cumin seeds 1 tsp
- Ginger, finely chopped 1 inch piece
- Curry leaves 1 sprig
- Cashew nuts, halved 12
- Asafoetida 1/4 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Water 3.5 cups
Method
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Roast the dal
Dry-roast the moong dal on a low flame until it darkens a shade and smells nutty. This firms the outer skin so the dal softens without collapsing into paste.
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Toast the rava
In the same pan, toast the rava in a teaspoon of ghee for two minutes until the grains feel loose and separate. Tip it out onto a plate.
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Simmer the dal
Cook the roasted dal in 2 cups of water until it mashes easily between two fingers, around 12 minutes covered on a low flame.
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Add the rava
Pour in the remaining hot water and salt, then rain the rava in with one hand while stirring with the other so no lumps form. Cover and cook 6 minutes.
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Crush and temper
Crush the pepper and cumin coarsely in a mortar. Heat the remaining ghee, brown the cashews, then add pepper, cumin, ginger, curry leaves and asafoetida.
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Fold and rest
Pour the tempering over the pongal, fold once, and leave it covered off the heat for five minutes so the pepper perfume settles through.
Why this works
Roasting the dal before boiling sets its surface starch, which is what keeps ven pongal creamy rather than gluey. Crushing the peppercorns fresh releases piperine oils that would otherwise stay locked in the whole corn. The final rest lets the rava absorb the last of the ghee, giving the dish its characteristic sheen.
Make it your own
- Sprouted Little Millet Rava → Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava Firmer grain, holds more definition; add two extra minutes of covered cooking.
- Ghee → Cold-pressed coconut oil Makes the dish vegan, with a rounder coconut note in place of the ghee aroma.
- Cashew nuts → Skinned peanuts Crunchier and earthier; add them a minute earlier as they brown more slowly.
