Malli Pongal Recipe: A Scrumptious Twist To A South Indian Breakfast Staple You Simply Cant Resist

Of all of the breakfast staples in Tamil Nadu, Pongal holds a really particular place. This dish is related to Pongal – the harvest competition in Tamil Nadu that’s celebrated often on January 14 or 15, on the primary day of the tenth month within the Tamil calendar – Thai. It marks the top of the winter solstice. The primary pongal of the 12 months is often a ‘paal pongal’ (Milk pongal) the place the primary rice crop (of rice) of the 12 months is cooked with milk and a pinch of salt. In most villages and even in city centres in Tamil Nadu, the Paal Pongal is cooked in earthen pots that put on a festive look and are encircled with freshly harvested ginger and turmeric.
However this isn’t the model of Pongal that is often eaten across the 12 months for breakfast. That is Venn Pongal which interprets to white Pongal. This dish combines uncooked rice with moong dhal (Paasi paruppu in Tamil) and is flavoured with peppercorns and curry leaves. It was in Coimbatore that I first found a scrumptious spin on the standard Pongal as we all know it. I did not come to do this dish on the Shree Anandhaas outlet at Lakshmi Mills junction. I used to be there for his or her widespread Karupatti Mysore Pak that’s crafted with palm jaggery but it surely was the breakfast particular of the day that made a much bigger affect.
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Picture Credit score: Ashwin Rajagopalan

Shree Anandhaas is one among Coimbatore’s hottest vegetarian chain eating places together with one other native favorite – Annapoorna. I’ve tried fairly just a few modern dishes right here together with their chikoo kesari (just like the sheera) but it surely’s their Malli Pongal that’s one the standout dishes on their menu. It isn’t accessible every single day on the restaurant although.  This inexperienced model of the Pongal incorporates the distinctive flavour and color of coriander (malli or kothamalli is the Tamil phrase for coriander). Whereas the Malli Pongal is likely to be a latest innovation, it nonetheless tastes like a pongal and options related textures. It is why this would possibly not shock outdated timers who’re specific about their Pongal.
It isn’t simply the contemporary aromas of the coriander, this dish can be infused with coconut milk that provides to its clean texture. The cooking course of is sort of just like a basic Venn Pongal aside from a paste that includes key components like cumin, peppercorns, ginger, inexperienced chillies and cashews. That is along with the components used for the ‘tempering course of’. Whereas it really works nicely with Sambar, it tastes even higher with a coconut chutney. The Malli Pongal is a scrumptious departure from the basic Pongal and works equally nicely as a breakfast possibility or for an all-day snack or as a light-weight dinner possibility. You possibly can do this simple recipe at dwelling:
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Malli Pongal Recipe

Elements:

• 2 cups uncooked rice 
• 1 cup moong dhal 
• 10 damaged cashew nuts 
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds 
• 1 tbsp peppercorns
• A pinch of hing 
• A sprig of curry leaves 
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2-3  tbsp ghee
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• Salt as required 

Elements for grinding:

• 1 tbsp peppercorns 
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 5 cashew nuts 
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1-2 inexperienced chillies 
• 1 cup tightly packed coriander leaves (finely chopped)

Technique:

• Wash the rice & moong dal nicely. Drain the water and put aside.
• Add all components (listed underneath components for grinding) and mix to a clean paste in a mixer.
• Add 4-5 cups of water with salt )to style) in a strain cooker. Add the washed rice & moong dal as soon as the water begins to boil. Stress prepare dinner for 4-5 whistles. Maintain apart.
• Warmth ghee & oil in a pan and ‘mood’ the peppercorns, cumin seeds, cashews, curry leaves & a pinch of asafoetida. Add the grounded paste and saute for two minutes on a low flame.
• Add coconut milk to the rice and dal combination as soon as it’s pressure-cooked. Stir nicely.
• Add the masala (with the components which were ‘tempered’) paste and stir nicely.
• Cook dinner this on a range for about 2 minutes on a low flame. Add extra ghee on the finish, when you flip off the flame.
• Serve scorching with sambar or coconut chutney.

About Ashwin RajagopalanI’m the proverbial slashie – a content material architect, author, speaker and cultural intelligence coach. Faculty lunch bins are often the start of our culinary discoveries.That curiosity hasn’t waned. It’s solely bought stronger as I’ve explored culinary cultures, road meals and tremendous eating eating places the world over. I’ve found cultures and locations by means of culinary motifs. I’m equally obsessed with writing on shopper tech and journey.