Kuthiraivali Pongal and Sambar Recipe - South Indian Breakfast

Step 1: Prepare Sambar Vegetables and Dal

Add chopped carrots, drumsticks, chayote, tomatoes, and small onions to a pressure cooker. Wash 1 cup of toor dal thoroughly and add it to the pressure cooker with the vegetables. Add 3-4 cups of water, 1 tsp castor oil, and 3-4 cloves of garlic. Place the pressure cooker on the stove and cook for 3 whistles.

Step 2: Prepare Sambar Spice Powder

In a separate pan, dry roast 4-5 dried red chilies, 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 3/4 tbsp chana dal, 3/4 tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tbsp black peppercorns, and 1 tbsp cumin seeds until fragrant. Let the roasted spices cool down, then grind them into a fine powder.

Step 3: Temper the Sambar

For sambar tempering, heat 1 tbsp oil in a small pan. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add 2-3 dried red chilies and a sprig of curry leaves to the tempering. Sauté briefly.

Step 4: Combine and Simmer Sambar

Once the dal and vegetables are cooked and mashed, add the prepared tempering to the sambar. Add the ground sambar powder and salt to taste. Stir well. Add water to adjust the sambar consistency if needed. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and simmer for 2 minutes.

Step 5: Prepare Pongal Tempering

For pongal, add 2 tbsp ghee to a clean pressure cooker. Add 1 tsp black peppercorns to the hot ghee. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds, a sprig of curry leaves, chopped ginger, and slit green chilies to the ghee. Sauté until fragrant.

Step 6: Cook Pongal

Add the washed Kuthiraivali rice, normal rice, and moong dal to the cooker. Add salt to taste. Add 5 cups of water (for 1 part rice/dal, 5 parts water). Stir well. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles.

Step 7: Serve the Meal

Serve the Kuthiraivali Pongal and Sambar on a banana leaf, along with vada. Pour sambar over the pongal and vada, adding more as desired. Enjoy the meal.

• Add castor oil when pressure cooking dal for a well-mashed consistency.

• To achieve perfect pongal consistency, add a small amount of normal rice (noyarisi) along with Kuthiraivali rice and moong dal.

• A hotel trick to thicken watery sambar is to add a spoonful of idli batter or cooked pongal.

• The correct water ratio for pongal is 1 part rice/dal to 5 parts water.

• For older pressure cookers, you might need to cook pongal for up to 8 whistles to ensure it's well-cooked.

• Chayote can be used instead of brinjal in sambar.