Good morning dear readers. I can still call morning, as it, is 11.54 am! Whats up, how is it going? We witnessed 2nd/3rd wave, we contemplated, doubted, questioned but finally took vaccine. People like me, who has not even taken flu shots every year, made a bold decision of taking vaccine, which is totally unknown, what later on effects it could have. More concerned about the younger generation, what effect it might be on them, in future. Am sure, there all scientific research on these and it's all safe, but when you get to hear, someone had an 'heart attack' or few people have heart issues after taking vaccines, you naturally tend to get apprehensive.
Kids started going to school, that's a big deal, wearing 7 hours of mask, I was not sure how kids can handle and was sure that school will close in a week or two, as soon as it opens, also happened in many school districts. But now its been 2 months, wearing mask every single day for 7 hours seems like a norm, as though they are wearing it from a long time...! No one, no more crib about mask at all, it was like, everyone wanted to get out of the house and have and feel the normal life, fresh air, see people faces, walk around, talk to people face to face. So wearing mask does not seem like a big deal or can endure wearing mask for 7 hours, as suppose to sit at home, behind a closed door, cooped up, most of the time cameras turned off or cameras facing the ceiling and all you can hear the teacher's voice and face covered with mask, as they were teaching from school. No physical activity, no interaction, now seems like, can't do it anymore or never ever again?
We humans, are social animals, we cannot live without talking, seeing people. But coronavirus taught us, to value, appreciate, recognize the importance of all the things, we take it for granted or never even thought we should be grateful for so many things! And even as small or a normal thing of touching, hugging or talking or seeing someone, became a big deal. We saw the ugliest side...that so many of us could not even see our own parents/siblings/friends for one last time, nor touch nor could perform the last rites properly. We were suddenly trapped in our own homes and isolation and even one member of the family was affected, that person should isolate in their own house or in the hospital!
We do not know, we can never know, what all went through their minds, heart, physically, mentally, emotionally, when they were alone in the hospital, wanted to see their own people, wanted to come back home, feel better....! It's just been so hard, so ugly, so scary, toughest times the entire mankind ever witnessed in their lifetimes.
But we all went through this.....many people sailed through this, but sailed through this, with lot of heartaches, loss, and learnt lot of lesson, explored many other ways of life.
Anyways, it's been again almost a year of my blogging, thought, on this rainy, not so cold Nov morning to blog and get connected with my readers and share a recipe. Its global warming, 65 degrees in Nov, means it is global warming. Heard that this winter is going to be warmer. Many times at this time of the year, we have witnessed snow, but today it's 65 degrees, warm but raining. Now sun is coming up and rain stopped. Outside looks very beautiful with all leaves changing colors and falling off, the road looks like a colorful bed sheet draped.
Today am going to share, my Amma's one of the best recipe, 'Pongal'/Huggi, means to 'boil or bubbling up. Huggi is derived from the old Kannada word "puggi" meaning 'bubbled up'. It has a sweet version and a spicy or salt version. Today am going to share the spicy/salt version of pongal called 'Ven pongal or Khara pongal which is the savory version which is super flavorful and delicious dish offered to GODS, as naivedya not only at homes but also in temples on auspicious days, festivals and poojas. Naivedya, is a Sanskrit word, means food offered to GOD as a part of worship ritual, before we eat. Pongal is a very favorite and most popular breakfast in South India. But it can be had as lunch/dinner as well.
Ven Pongal/Khara Pongal is super delicious and healthy. It can be made in two different ways, either you can cook everything in the pressure cooker, which can be faster or cook in a regular pot, which takes some time to cook, but you can get the desired, perfect consistency and taste. I always cook in a regular pot.
Indgredients:
Yellow Moong Dal-1 Cup
Rice-1/2 Cup
Ghee-1-2 tbsp
Cumin and Pepper-roughly powdered-each 1 tbsp
Salt according to taste
Cashews-optional
Desiccated coconut-1/4 cup
Coconut pieces-optional
Method:
In a large deep pot, on a medium heat, fry moongdal until aromatic, make sure it does not change color. Add water and stir well. Keep stirring frequently, as moong dal tends to get stuck to the bottom of the pot, and make sure there is enough water all the time. Once moong dal is half cooked, you can check, often, how much the moong dal is cooked, by taking few moong dal out and pressing it in your fingers or to see if it has become big. You can add rice after the moong dal is half way cooked. I do not fry the rice or warm up the rice, as I feel, later on Pongal becomes too hard and too thick in consistency. You can wash and rinse rice before adding it.
Once you add rice, add more water, make sure water is always above the level of the moong dal and rice. You can see both rice and moong dal are cooked well, by taking few out and pressing it in your fingers. Both are mixing well together.
At this point, take a small pan and add ghee, when ghee melts, add roughly crushed pepper and cumin and once it sizzles add it to the pongal and add salt and mix well, keep stirring, as rice and dal will stick to bottom of the pot. Keep adding adjusting the water to keep it in a flowing consistency. Now you can add 1/4 cup of desiccated grated coconut and finely chopped coconut pieces which are optional, which will enhance the taste and flavor of the pongal. You can fry some cashews in ghee and add them, mix well and switch off the stove. Make sure to keep it in a flowing consistency as pongal gets thicker later on.
Serve hot with more ghee on top and enjoy the yummiest and healthiest pongal. Pongal are done in variations, many people add veggies or add ginger, curry leaves to it. But I do it my Amma's way, which is super tasty. Ven/Khara pongal can be eaten with coconut chutney or Gojju, but I like to eat pongal with ghee on top! Enjoy!
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