Ven pongal

Ingredients

Raw rice - 1 cup
Split moong dal - ½ cup
Ghee (clarified butter) or butter - 4 tbsp
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Fresh ginger - 1 tbsp (chopped)
Cashewnuts - 10 to 15
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - few
Water - 5-6 cups (you may replace ½ of it with milk)
Salt as per taste

Mehtod
Fry the cashew nuts in ghee for golden colour.
Wash and rinse the rice and dal then cook along with salt for 5 to 6 whistles. If you use a small cooker then milk will boil over, so use a big one. Or do it in the pan so you can stir well.
After they are done, take a small pan and fry the mustard seeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, asafoetida, ginger and curry leaves in the ghee.
Pour this and the cashews into the cooked rice and mix well. Serve hot with sambar.