It has been a challenge for me to make my husband eat Pongal . He never touched it whenever I tried it in Bangalore. I had never made it at home. The success rate with my friend Poornima’s recipes is almost 100% at my home. So I asked for her Pongal recipe and tried it. As always, this was a huge success. My husband and I loved it so much that, we had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on a weekend.
“ Pongal ” is a semi solid dish, usually prepared with rice and daal . We make “sweet Pongal ” and “spicy pongal “. I loved the combination specified by Poornima. She serves Pongal with a sour side dish called as “ HuLi gojju ” or a kind of raita called as “ Mosaru bajji “. But I prepared both the sides.
Spicy Pongal
Spicy Pongal with side dishes (Khara pongal - HuLi gojju - Mosaru bajji)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups moong daal yellow
- 1 cup rice
- 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
- 2 tea spns cumin seeds
- 1/2 tea spn black pepper
- 5-6 curry leaves
- 3-4 green chilies
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 3/4 cup grated coconut
- 2-3 strands coriander leaves
- 1 tea spn oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Soak daal and rice separately. Crush black pepper roughly (I used black pepper powder instead).
- For best results, make the Pongal directly in cooker.
- Heat oil in cooker, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they start popping, add curry leaves, crushed black pepper, green chilies. Fry for a minute. Add onion and fry till they turn brownish.
- Drain water off the daal and add it to the onions and fry for a minute.
- Now drain off the water from the rice and add it to the mixture and fry for few seconds.
- Add 8 cups of water (for 1 cup rice, 8 cups of water should be added.
- When I took above picture, I used just 6 cups of water to make it slightly thicker, but usually I prefer using 8 cups).
- Add coconut, chopped coriander and salt.
- Close the lid of the cooker and cook for 2 whistles.
- The Pongal should be in semi-liquid state when cooked.
- Serve hot with HuLi gojju or Mosaru bajji.
HuLi gojju :
Spicy Pongal with side dishes (Khara pongal - HuLi gojju - Mosaru bajji)
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups of slitted onions
- 1 tea spn oil
- 1 garlic clove optional
- 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract or 2 tbl spn of thick tamarind juice
- 1/2 tea spn chili powder
- 1/2 tea spn sambar powder any ready made sambar powder can be used
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 2-3 strands coriander leaves
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat oil and add mustard seeds.
- When they start popping, add curry leaves and chopped garlic.
- Fry for a minute and add onions.
- Fry till onions turn slightly brownish.
- Add tamarind and around 2-3 tbl spn of water.
- Add chili powder, sambar powder, coconut, chopped coriander leaves and salt.
- Cook for around 7-8 mins.
- This gojju should also be semi liquid.
- I made it a bit less-watery to suite my taste.
Mosaru bajji
Spicy Pongal with side dishes (Khara pongal - HuLi gojju - Mosaru bajji)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup finely chopped cucumber
- 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped tomato optional
- 2-3 strands coriander leaves
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1/2 tea spn oil
- 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
- 1 cup yogurt curd
- 2-3 green chilies
- Salt
Instructions
- Mix cucumber, onion, tomatoes, coriander leaves and chili with salt.
- Add yogurt(curd) and mix well.
- Heat oil and add mustard.
- When they start popping add curry leaves, fry for a minute and them to the yogurt mixture and mix well.
Spicy Pongal with side dishes (Khara pongal - HuLi gojju - Mosaru bajji)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups moong daal yellow
- 1 cup rice
- 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
- 2 tea spns cumin seeds
- 1/2 tea spn black pepper
- 5-6 curry leaves
- 3-4 green chilies
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 3/4 cup grated coconut
- 2-3 strands coriander leaves
- 1 tea spn oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Soak daal and rice separately. Crush black pepper roughly (I used black pepper powder instead).
- For best results, make the Pongal directly in cooker.
- Heat oil in cooker, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they start popping, add curry leaves, crushed black pepper, green chilies. Fry for a minute. Add onion and fry till they turn brownish.
- Drain water off the daal and add it to the onions and fry for a minute.
- Now drain off the water from the rice and add it to the mixture and fry for few seconds.
- Add 8 cups of water (for 1 cup rice, 8 cups of water should be added.
- When I took above picture, I used just 6 cups of water to make it slightly thicker, but usually I prefer using 8 cups).
- Add coconut, chopped coriander and salt.
- Close the lid of the cooker and cook for 2 whistles.
- The Pongal should be in semi-liquid state when cooked.
- Serve hot with HuLi gojju or Mosaru bajji.
Spicy Pongal with side dishes (Khara pongal - HuLi gojju - Mosaru bajji)
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups of slitted onions
- 1 tea spn oil
- 1 garlic clove optional
- 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract or 2 tbl spn of thick tamarind juice
- 1/2 tea spn chili powder
- 1/2 tea spn sambar powder any ready made sambar powder can be used
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 2-3 strands coriander leaves
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat oil and add mustard seeds.
- When they start popping, add curry leaves and chopped garlic.
- Fry for a minute and add onions.
- Fry till onions turn slightly brownish.
- Add tamarind and around 2-3 tbl spn of water.
- Add chili powder, sambar powder, coconut, chopped coriander leaves and salt.
- Cook for around 7-8 mins.
- This gojju should also be semi liquid.
- I made it a bit less-watery to suite my taste.
Spicy Pongal with side dishes (Khara pongal - HuLi gojju - Mosaru bajji)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup finely chopped cucumber
- 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped tomato optional
- 2-3 strands coriander leaves
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1/2 tea spn oil
- 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
- 1 cup yogurt curd
- 2-3 green chilies
- Salt
Instructions
- Mix cucumber, onion, tomatoes, coriander leaves and chili with salt.
- Add yogurt(curd) and mix well.
- Heat oil and add mustard.
- When they start popping add curry leaves, fry for a minute and them to the yogurt mixture and mix well.
I have tasted Paneer many times in restaurants, but had never tried cooking it at home. When I got recipe requests for Paneer chili and Paneer 65, I bought a pack of Paneer from Indian store here. I made Paneer chili and it was simply superb. When I searched for Paneer chili , I got many recipes asking for deep frying of Paneer . I wanted to make non-deep fried version. So I followed Shynee’s Mashroom chili recipe with few changes. The final product was simply amazing. Even my husband who does not like Paneer , loved this dish.
Ingredients: 1 cup Paneer chopped into cubes 3-4 green chilies 1 tea spn soya sauce 1 tea spn tomato ketchup 1/2 tea spn ginger-garlic paste 1/2 cup onions slices 1/2 cup capsicum slices 1 tbl spn oil 2-3 strands coriander leaves Salt
Method: Heat oil and fry the Paneer cubes till they turn slightly brownish. Take them out.
In the remaining oil, add ginger-garlic paste and onions. Fry till onions turn translucent. Add capsicum, slitted green chilies and fry till they become soft. Add soya sauce, tomato ketchup, salt and Paneer . Mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot as a starter.
Serves: 2 Preparation time : 15mins
