Ven Pongal Recipe is also known as Khara Pongal is a healthy breakfast recipe made with rice and moong dal tempered with cumin, pepper, curry leaves, and ghee.
Today morning I was reading an article in the newspaper. I am actually not a fan of the newspaper because of the amount of negativity that they feed into you in the morning. I somehow do not feel that it is the right way to start your mornings.
But on Sunday’s I do flip over to the center pages where there is a lot of good information like an interview with startup owners, health tips, tips on what to eat and what to avoid etc.
While I was scanning through the usual topics, I came across this topic of de-addicting from mobile phone addictions. It was the story of 4 different people who forced themselves to do certain uncomfortable activities in order to get rid of their mobile phone addiction.
Each of these stories showed the strength of the characters involved in them. They all pushed themselves to do things that they weren’t comfortable with which shows their willpower and mental character.
At this point, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. Each of these people who were strong mentally, meaning that it was an inherent strength of there, still were addicted to something like a mobile phone. And they had to bring that suppressed personality in them, out of its slumber to get rid of this addiction.
So why and how did they get addicted to their mobile phones, at the first place?
I turned towards Dilip and found him browsing through his Twitter feed on his mobile phone. I looked at my daughter and she was busy drawing something on my mobile phone. And ironically all of us were at the dining table with our food in front of us.
And, I somewhat got my answer.
Addiction of any kind happens when you are desperately looking to replace something that you are desperately in need of. People take to drugs when they are unable to find somebody to confide in. People get addicted to alcohol when they are unable to find people with whom they can share their worst moments.
And people get addicted to Mobile phones when they are unable to find somebody they can talk to. Rather, when people are unable to find anyone who can spend a few hours listening to them, they find that alternative in their mobile phones and social media.
It was here that I could find one common point in all of the 4 stories that I read in the newspaper. All of them got deaddicted of their mobile phones, when they started spending time with each other.
Are we turning into Robots?
Why do we look for virtual friends, when we can have real friends?
Let us keep our mobile phones aside and look at who is around. Let us try spending a couple of hours talking and listening to them. We will suddenly realize that there were a lot of things that we didn’t really know about that person with whom we spent that last few years in the same home.
How do you plan to stay away from your mobile phone and spend more time with your family? Do comment and let us know.
Ven Pongal Recipe – How to Make Ven Pongal Recipe
Ven Pongal is a South Indian Recipe, equivalent to the North Indian khichdi Recipe. Ven Pongal is a very popular recipe in Tamilnadu and Andhra, usually made for breakfast. But this can also be prepared for lunch or dinner. Traditionally this is recipe is served along with instant sambhar, Vada and coconut chutney.
The addition of ghee and pepper makes this recipe more flavorful. It is always advisable to prepare pongal for only one meal. Since it becomes thicker when refrigerated. But in case you have a leftover add some hot water to it, then heat.
Kids love this recipe, so to make it healthier you can add vegetables of your choice.
You can always add extra ghee on top of the Pongal before serving.
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Ven Pongal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw rice
- 1 cup Moong Dal
- 6 cups Water
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp Ginger grated
For tempering
- 6 tbsp Ghee
- 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
- Curry leaves few
- 3-4 Green Chillies chopped or slit into halves
- 20-24 Cashew nuts
- 22-24 Black Peppercorns coarsely ground
Instructions
- Dry roast the dal in a pressure cooker until it is slightly brown and fragrant.
- Now add rice to it and wash them togeather.
- Add water, ginger and salt and pressure cook until done. You can cook for one whistle on high heat and then for 2 whistles on low heat.
- Once done remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release on it’s own.
- Slightly mash the pongal, so that it is slightly mushy and creamy.
- Add more water if needed.
- Now heat ghee in a pan.
- Once the ghee is hot, add cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, green chilli and peppercorns. Let them crackle for a few seconds.
- Now it’s time to add cashew nuts and fry until they are slightly browned.
- Pour the tempering over the pongal.
- Mix and let it simmer for a minute.
- Serve hot with sambhar and coconut chutney.
MY PICKS FOR THIS RECIPE
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