Semolina (Rava) Pongal

I love rava in any form. Rava dosa is my favorite. Every time I go to a restaurant I pick rava dosa. My hubby used to comment on me for selecting the same thing every time. Rava Upma, Rava kesari are most common dishes in southern India. I love rava upma which my mom makes. Only after marriage, I miss many dishes my mother prepares. I try all the things she makes but couldn't bring level of taste in it. Ofcourse, its mom's preparation- It has always got a special place.
Semolina (I used the rice semolina) are nothing but the broken parts of rice kernels. I has got its presence with different wheat and rice combinations all over the world. 
Rava pongal I first experimented it after marriage for breakfast without vegetables , it was good. But,My hubby insisted the food should contain vegetables, being vegetarian we have got limited number of food that gives the essential nutrients. 

Ahhh... He is correct right !!!. 

So this makes a cute history for this new version of pongal. Isn't it :)

Rava Pongal

Serves - 4
Preparation time - 40 minutes 

Ingredients :

Idly rava - 1 cup
Split moong dal - 1/3 cup
Carrots - 2 medium 
Green Beans - 5 
Green Peas - 1/2 cup ( I used frozen)
Potato - 1 small 
Green Capsicum - 1/2 
Ginger - 1 inch
Oil - 1 tbsp 
Ghee - 2 tsp 
Salt - as per taste 
Water - 41/2 cups

Seasoning :

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 
Whole pepper corns - 5 
Cashew nuts - handful (broken)

Method :

Vegetable Semolina Pongal

Roast the rava in ghee or oil ( I used ghee) till it gets hot. Transfer it to a plate and allow it to cool.
Wash the moong dal and keep it aside. Cut the carrots into small squares, Beans,capsicum and potato. 
Chop the ginger into small pieces. 

In a sauce pan, add the moong dal + all the vegetables (carrot + beans + peas + capsicum+potato) and 2 cups of water and salt. Close the pan and allow it to cook for 10 minutes.
Note: the dal produces foams and bubbles while boiling so keep it half open. Be careful as water flows out and may switch off the stove. So stand nearby and keep stirring in-between.

After it the vegetables and dal has got cooked, add the rava. Keep stirring while adding the rava as it can form lumps. I added 2 1/2 cups of water along with rava as I used Idly rava which is very coarse. You can adjust water based on the type of rava. 

In a tadka pan, heat oil and once it gets heated up add one cumin seed. Check if it splutters, add the remaining , then pepper corns, ginger and stir for a minute. Finally, add cashews and keep frying until it turns brown. Make sure you do not burn the cashews.

It tastes great with coconut chutney or Idly sambhar. 

Enjoy with any kind of side dish of your choice and do share if you find any interesting combination for this pongal. We had it with coconut chutney. 

Thanks for reading 
VP