Hot Pongal with Oatmeal

Hot Pongal with Oatmeal

Here is another healthy add to the list. Hot Pongal made with Oatmeal. Simple, and delicious food.

Ingredients:

1. Yellow Moong Dal (Pesarapappu) - 1 cup

2. Oats - 1 1/2 cups

3. Green chillies - 3 (your choice of any medium sized green chillies)

4. Curry Leaves - few

5. Ginger - small size
6. Whole black pepper - around 6-7 grounded (add more or less depending on the spice level).

Preparation:

Take a flat pan, and set the heat to medium hot. Dry roast yellow moong dal for 5 minutes. Constantly stir it so that the dal gets evenly fried. Take that aside in a bowl/plate. In the same pan, with the same heat, dry roast oats for another 5 mins. Keep that to a side.

Take a non-stick medium size vessel. I usually prefer the pongal to be a bit soft, and gravy as it adds more texture and flavor. So, to make it at this consistency, add 4 cups of water (use the same measuring cup that you used for measuring moong dal/oats). Heat the water in a medium flame. Once the water starts boiling, add moong dal first, and lower the heat, Make sure that the dal cooks evenly and soft. Stir the dal for even consistency. After the dal gets cooked, add 1 1/2 cups of oats to the same vessel. Mix both the ingredients together, and simmer the heat. Close the vessel with a lid so that the dal becomes very soft, and can be easily mashed. Oats doesn't take much time to cook, the max time it requires is 5 minutes. Keep looking so that the bottom is not burnt. constantly give a stir and keep the cooking going, until dal and oatmeal are completely blended, and forms a nice consistency as shown in the picture above. This cooking takes around 10-15 mins. Add a pinch or two of turmeric powder, and salt as desired for the taste, and keep it aside.

Seasoning:
Take a pan, and add around 4 table spoons of oil, if you prefer ghee, you could substitute oil with ghee.
once the oil gets heated, add 1/4 tea spoon of black mustard seeds, 1/2 tea spoon of cumin seeds, 2-3 red chillies, curry leaves, finley chopped green chillies, and finely chopped ginger. At the end add the grounded black pepper powder. Add this to the pongal, and mix it well to make sure that the seasoning is evenly spread. Sambar goes very well with Pongal. If you prefer the lighter end, try with coconut chutney.

Very simple, yet very delicious dish that you can relish!