Ven pongal

1. Dry roast the moong daal. Put it in a pan at low flame and roast it for a bit. Mix it with rice and wash it thoroughly. Add it to a cooker with more water than you usually take. Add pepper corns, jeera and salt in the cooker to taste. Cook it for a little longer to make it semi liquid.

2. In a different pan, take ghee (generously) and prepare a tadka. Add curry leaves, heeng, ginger and chillies (cut long). add a little bit of salt and jeera also if you want.

3. Then mix the rice daal mixture from the cooker into this.

4. Take a little bit of ghee and roast some cashews on a tava. Sautee them evenly by continuously stirring them on a low flame. Add to the pongal on top and mix.

5. Serve with coconut chutney or sambaar.