Week #3 Protein Packed Pongal

I am happy to announce the person that I am dedicating Week #3 Dish to my Periamma(aunt) Prema Viswanathan. She hit the nail on the head in 2 min after I asked the question. I am so happy to start the deidcation with her because she is an amazing cook and a great personality. So, here's to you Prema Periamma!!!
Anu Krishnan- guessed it right, but I also added 2 other special grains- Barley and Samo Seeds to my Pongal. and the others were so close-Sundal and Pongal- this is a combo of both. Both Samo and Barley dont get mushy and stand to cooking at high temperatures without breaking apart, but the barley especially gives such good texture to the dish.


Week # 3 of my 52 weeks of 52 recipes is inspired by the Indian festival of Pongal. Pongal is the harvest festival of India and celebrated over three days. We eat a lot of Pongal in those three days which mainly consists of 2 kinds, Sweet Pongal and Venn( Savory)Pongal. I'll be honest with you all, I have never really cared much for the Sweet Pongal as its just rice and jaggery with the cashews and raisins. But I prefer the Savory Pongal especially because I am able to tweak it the way I want with all the nutrients and some very special ingredients. While the traditional one just has rice and moong dal or moong lentils, mine are way out of the ordinary.... this is actually good for us and SUPER easy!! This could easily be a week day comfort meal.So, in all, this is a low glycemic index Pongal packed with protein. Here is Pongal- MY WAY.

PPP- Protein Packed Pongal

Rice- 3/4 cup
Split Moong Dal- 1/4 cup
Barley- 1/4 cup
Quinoa- 1/4 cup
Samo seeds- 1/4 cup
Boiled Moong and Kala Channa- 1/4 cup each
Cashew nuts or peanuts- 2 tablesoons
1 tablespoon- Black whole pepper
1 tablespoon- cumin seeds
A handful curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon- turmeric
1/4 teaspoon- Asafoetida( can be omitted)
1 Green chilli- chopped
Shredded coconut- 1 tablespoon (optional)
Salt as needed
Vegetable oil- 1 tablespoon
1/4 cup water

Method:
Cook Rice,Split Moong Dal,Barley and Quinoa in Rice Cooker with 3 1/2 cups water.
In the meanwhile, add oil to a pan. Then add cumin and let the seeds turn black.Add whole pepper and then curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric, asafoetida and saute. Reduce heat to medium. Add cashew nuts and let it turn brown followed by the Kala Channa and whole moong.

Add salt and coconut. Now add the cooked rice, barley,quinoa and samo mixture. Add 1/4 cup water and increase heat to high and let it all come together. Serve hot with either Sambar or Gotsu(eggplant in tomato sauce). Enjoy