Growing up, every Sunday, Aruna and I would dread the breakfast. Appa would invariably make pongal! And we would be like " Oh no! Pongal yet again!!" But over years especially after getting married to Simha I have started enjoying this. In fact it has become one of those comfort foods that reminds me of my childhood. Also during my fellowship, I would pack this for baby Om and feed it to him while attending conferences in the evening. Om accompanied me for almost all the conferences during training and during my graduation Dr. Marshall jokingly awarded him part of GI fellowship. Haha!
With my Instant Pot (IP) this is literally a 6 minute recipe!
You will need:
Switch your IP to saute mode.
Add 1 tbsp of ghee
Add 1 inch ginger (grated or minced)
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 tsp asafoetida
4-5 cashews (whole or chopped)
Saute for about a minute
Add:
1 cup of rice (washed and drained)
1 cup of moong dal (washed and drained)
Saute for about a minute
Add:
6 cups of water (1:3 ratio of grain/lentil mix: water)
Add:
1 tbsp of crushed black pepper
1 tbsp of crushed cumin seeds
I crush them in a mortal and pestle. I personally like it like that since the flavors come out well. But you could choose to just add them whole as well.
Add salt per your taste.
Close the lid and turn valve to sealed position.
Set the IP to manual high pressure mode for 6 minutes. Wait for natural pressure release.
Mix well and somewhat mash it up.
Enjoy this ven pongal with coconut chutney (that is how my Appa likes it) or with vettha kozhumbu (that is how Simha likes it). So guess what I end up making then. Haha!
Enjoy!
