Millet Rava Pongal
Millet pongal
Millet pongal
Millet pongal can be a highly nutritious dish, thanks to the incorporation of millets, which bring various health benefits to the table.
To enhance the nutritional value of millet pongal, consider including a variety of vegetables, herbs, and spices in the preparation. Opting for whole millets over refined millet products and minimizing the use of oil can further elevate the dish's health benefits. Like any other food, maintaining a balanced and varied diet is crucial for optimal nutrition.
While many store brands offer ready-to-mix and cook options like pongal mix, upma mix, and khichdi mix, these products often contain unnecessary additives such as preservatives and flavor enhancers. Crafting your own mixes at home not only allows you to control the ingredients but also ensures a healthier alternative without compromising on taste.
Initially, I began preparing these convenient tiffin mixes for our household. They have proven to be a lifesaver on days when I'm not feeling my best or lack the energy to cook. These pre-made tiffin mixes have also been a great companion during our travels, providing an easy alternative to dining out constantly.
While making khichdi, upma, or pongal from scratch isn't overly complicated, the minor tasks of gathering ingredients, roasting, and tempering can be cumbersome, especially on days when cooking seems like a daunting task. Having these mixes ready in advance has simplified the process, offering a quick and hassle-free solution for those days when I prefer a more convenient cooking experience."
How to prepare the millet ready to cook pongal mix or upma mix .
Both the methods are same except for ready to eat upma millet mix, we also add in extra dried veggies ( dehydrated ) or skip and keep a plain upma mix .
And for the pongal mix we add the moong dal also , otherwise you can easily convert the millet upma mix to pongal mix by just adding pepper, ginger , cumin .
Anyway that was a hack !
The millet rava (barnyard millet )
Ingredients to prepare millet rava Pongal mix :
3 cups millet rava ( any millet will do ).
The millet rava is ready to use so no need to wash. These millet rava varieties are avaialble in packs . you can buy those or make yolur own too .
You can also prepare the rava by washing millets well, drain and spread on cloth to dry. Then dry roast and powder coarsely like sooji.
Take a pan, add 1 tbsp ghee, roast thd millet rava till fragrant.
Added tempering of ghee fried cashews, cumin, fry curry leaves, crushed pepper, fried ginger or use ginger powder in mix .
1 cup moong dal washed, dried on cloth, then roasted well.
This is added to the prepared mix.
Mix well. Store in a clean dry container.
Millet pongal mix
To prepare Pongal.
Take 1/2 cup prepared pongal mix .
Heat 1 1/2 cup water in a pan , when it boils, add salt, 1 tbsp ghee.
Add the mix, cover and cook on low flame till water is absorbed.
You can also cook in half water half milk.
Make sure to remove the Pongal when slightly loose in consistency.
Open, add more ghee if you wish.
Serve hot.
Brinjal Gothsu
Add oil Or ghee to a pressure cooker .
Splutter mustard seeds.
Add cumin mustard seeds, green chilies, red chilies ,curry leaves.
2 small onions finely chopped.
1 big tomato finely chopped,
1 cup chopped brinjal, add 1 cup water, turmeric powder, sambar powder, salt.
Add 2 ladles of cooked moong dal , pressure cook for 1 whistle.
Open, mix contents well. Add 1 tbsp besan. mixed with water to the mixture to give a good texture.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with Pongal.
I usually set aside cooked moong dal for tiffin purpose
during lunch itself, so it becomes quicker . You can also do this separately , in which case pressure cook moong dal (1/ 2 cup ) for required whistles, open cooker, mash well, then add all other ingredients and cook in open pan or cooker vessel, you need not pressure cook .pressure cook for one whistle if I have cooked dal ready as all ingredients mix well, the brinjals tomatoes, onions. all cook and combine smoothly . Adjust water qty if needed later by using hot water .
Check out my youtube video for Brinjal gothsu . Subscribe to my channel for regular uploads .
Check out another variation of Brinjal gothsu
Check out my Proso millet upma recipe from my youtube channel .
