Beverages
Sakkare Pongal
Mung dhal and rice, cooked with milk and sugar
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Dry roast mung dhal until it just changes colour.
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Wash rice and mung dhal together and soak for an hour. Drain in a colander.
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In a large saucepan bring milk and 2 cups of water to a boil. Add dhal, rice and coconut. Cook on medium low heat, stirring often, until water is completely absorbed.
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Add brown sugar, cook on low heat, stirring frequently to prevent pongal sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add 3 teaspoons ghee and cook until sugar mixes well with rice and dhal and pongal becomes a sticky mass.
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Warm 1 teaspoon ghee in a small saucepan over a medium low heat. Fry cashew nuts until golden. Stir in sultanas and fry for about 20 seconds. Add to pongal.
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Stir in cardamom and cloves. Remove from heat.
Serve warm.
Variation: use ¼ cup rice and ¼ cup broken wheat (cracked wheat) instead of ½ cup rice.
Per serve: energy 703 kJ (167 cal); protein 5 g; fat 4 g; saturated fat 3 g; cholesterol 7 mg; carbohydrate 28 g; fibre 2 g; calcium 65 mg; iron 0.8 mg; sodium 16 mg
Serves 8
⅓ cup mung dhal (split, skinned green gram)
½ cup basmati rice
1 cup fat free milk
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons ghee (clarified butter) + 1 teaspoon
10 cashew nuts, broken into bits
1 tablespoon sultanas
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cloves or nutmeg
Mung dhal is a good source of protein, B vitamin, folate, iron and fibre.