Keerai Pongal, Spinach Pongal

          Today's post is going to be a simple and delicious pongal, Keerai Pongal or Spinach Pongal. I used to make this Spinach Pongal a lot when we were in the US. I always had frozen chopped spinach in the freezer and so this dish could be put together in minutes, here in India, I don't get frozen spinach, so I use fresh spinach. It's a very easy dish, serve it with some Onion And Tomato Gothsu for a complete and delicious meal..

Need To Have

• Raw Rice/Pachai Arisi - 1 cup
• Moong Dal/Husked Split Green Gram - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Spinach - 3 cups, packed
• Cashews - 6, broken into pieces
• Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon, coarsely pounded
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1" piece, grated
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt To Taste

Method

          Dry roast the moong dal, then wash it along with the rice, drain and keep. Take the rice and moong dal in a pressure pan, add the chopped spinach and 5 cups of water and salt. Cover and cook, after 1 whistle, reduce the heat completely and cook for 5 minutes and switch off. Once all the pressure is released, open the pressure pan.

          Heat a tablespoon of oil and a little ghee, add the cashews, cumin and pepper, once the cashews turn golden, add the ginger and asafoetida, mix and add it to the cooked rice-dal-spinach. Mix and serve it warm with the Gothsu.

Note
You can replace the raw rice with millets, equal mixture of rice and quinoa and make the Pongal healthier.
I have limited the oil and ghee, you can add more ghee if you want.