Ven Pongal & Gosthu

For Day 5 of BM# 10 under Winter Special theme, I have a very comforting and hearty combo, Ven Pongal & Gosthu. I'm sure these dishes are made all year round, but a hot bowl of pongal with the hearty vegetable & lentil curry just warms you up from within, making it a very special winter dish in my opinion. 

Recipe for Ven Pongal is adapted from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin cookbook and I made Suganya's gosthu to go along with it. A perfect way to end a looong day of shopping. 

Ingredients:

Moong dal - ½cup

Rice - 1cup (I used Sona masoori rice)

Turmeric - ¼tsp

Peppercorns - ½tsp (or to taste)

Ground Cumin - 1tsp 

Salt - to taste

For tempering:

Cumin seeds - ½tsp

Asafoetida - ¼tsp

Ginger - 2" piece, finely grated

Green chilies - 3, slit
Curry leaves - few

Method: 

• Coarsely grind peppercorns and cumin seeds and set aside.
• Roast moong dal and rice separately. Mix together, wash well and cook along with turmeric and 4½cups of water for 3-4 whistles or until both rice and lentil are very soft.
• Heat 2tbsp ghee and 1tbsp oil in a large saucepan, add the cumin-pepper powder and all the tempering ingredients and once the seeds start changing color, add the cooked rice mixture along with salt.
• Add ½cup of  water if necessary to get to a porridge like consistency. 

Serve hot with gosthu or coconut chutney or as is.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked for Day 5 of BM# 10.