DALIA VEN PONGAL (BROKEN WHEAT VEN PONGAL)

Pongal festival is on 14th of this month, I thought of sharing some pongal recipes.   Ven pongal is a South Indian dish served for breakfast.    Basically, it is a mixture of rice and moongdal cooked  with pepper corns, cumin seeds etc. garnished with cashewnuts and served with chutney or  sambar.  You serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, the hot pongal like khichadi  made in North India is all time favourite.  I have seen this given as prasadam in temples too.  moriyo-ven-pongal-sama-rice-ven-pongal.html

Here is the variation with lapsi or dalia it is called.   Normally it is prepared with moongdal but I have added some vegetables too in it to enhance the taste as well as to make it more attractive for children to eat this.  

Ingredients:

1/2  cup lapsi (medium size) (broken wheat)

2 cups water

1/2 cup masoor dal

1 tbsp finely chopped french beans

1 tbsp finely chopped carrots

1 tbs green peas (optional)

1 tbs finely chopped potatoes

1 tbs each of bell peppers (red, green and yellow)

1/4 tsp crushed black pepper/cumin

1/4 tsp whole black pepper

salt

grated coconut (optional)

salt

turmeric powder a pinch

asafoetida

curry leaves

1 tsp  oil

1 tsp ghee

Garnishing;

Cashewnuts

1 tsp ghee

Method:

Wash the lapsi,  masoor dal, keep aside. You can use moong dal.  If you are using moongdal, dry roast the same till nice aroma comes, do not burn.  In a kadai, heat the oil and ghee, add the curry leaves, crushed black pepper/cumin, whole black pepper, asafoetida.  add the veggies and saute for a minute. add the water, turmeric powder, salt and bring to a boil.  add the lapsi/masoor dal, mix and cover it.  cook till it is done.

in case you feel that it is not cooked, add some hot water.   fry the cashews and garnish.  lapsi ven pongal is ready. 

serve hot with coconut chutney, sambar or any other chutneys.