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Make Temple Style Ghee Pongal Easily at Home for Dasara
- •Prepare authentic temple-style Ghee Pongal easily at home to celebrate the Dasara festival with devotion.
- •Soak rice and moong dal for 20-30 minutes and cook them in a pressure cooker with water, salt, and a little ghee until soft.
- •Heat generous amounts of ghee and fry cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cashews, ginger, curry leaves, and asafoetida.
- •Mix the seasoning thoroughly into the cooked pongal and let it simmer on low flame to infuse the rich aroma.
Key Questions Answered
To make temple-style Ghee Pongal, you need 1 cup of rice, 1/2 cup of moong dal, 4 1/2 to 5 cups of water, salt to taste, 5-6 tablespoons or more of ghee, 1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds and black peppercorns, 1 inch of finely chopped ginger, 8-10 cashews, a few curry leaves, and a pinch of asafoetida.
Wash and soak the rice and moong dal for 20-30 minutes, then pressure cook them with water, salt, and 1 teaspoon of ghee for 3-4 whistles until soft and mushy. Separately, heat ghee in a pan, fry cumin seeds, peppercorns, cashews, ginger, curry leaves, and asafoetida until golden, and mix this seasoned ghee into the cooked pongal.
To get an authentic temple taste, use a generous amount of ghee, fry the black peppercorns and cumin seeds thoroughly, keep the water level slightly higher so the pongal remains soft rather than thick, and serve and eat it hot with coconut chutney or sambar.
