Thinnai Pongal | Foxtail Millet Pongal

Thinnai has become my husband's favorite, actually all millets are his favorite and he wants us to include millets in our daily or atleast weekly meals. I tried this pongal with foxtail millet and I should say all my skepticism vanished! This pongal tasted absolutely delicious and it tastes just like the normal ven pongal or the oats pongal that we are so used to! This makes a delicious and healthy breakfast dish.
We add a bit more moong dal in our pongal recipes and that makes the pongal really yum. Also I add pepper powder instead of whole peppers since no one eats whole peppers! 
Do try this out and switch to a more healthy lifestyle.

THINNAI PONGAL
Preparation time 15 mins | Cooking time 15 mins | Serves 2 to 3

Ingredients

• Thinnai -  1 cup
• Moong dal - 1/2 cup
• Pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Water - 4.5 cups

To Temper

• Oil/ghee - 2 tbsp
• Whole pepper corns - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Chopped ginger - 1/2 tsp
• Chopped garlic - 1/2 tsp
• Hing - a pinch
• Curry leaves - few
• Green chilli - 2

Method

1. Dry roast the moong dal and set aside. Wash the thinnai and soak the moong dal and thinnai for 15 minutes.

2. In a pressure pan, add oil or ghee. One the oil heats up, add the cumin seeds, pepper corns.

3. Once the cumin seeds splutter, add the chopped ginger and garlic, hing, curry leaves and slit or chopped green chillies.

4. Add the pepper power, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix everything together.

5. Drain the thinnai and moong dal and add it. Add 4.5 cups of water. 

6. Check for salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles in medium heat. Once done, wait for the pressure to release, open the cooker and give a stir.

You can have this with Coconut chutney or sambar.

Notes

1. If you want a more runny pongal, you can add upto 5 cups of water too. The proportion I have given is perfect to eat immediately.

2. You can skip the cumin powder and pepper powder and add whole pepper corns and cumin seeds too. Then you need to crush the cumin seeds and pepper corns and use.

3. Adding turmeric powder is optional.

4. We add a lot of moong dal since it gives a wonderful flavor and taste to the pongal. You can reduce it, if you don't want to add so much.
5. Use a large pressure cooker otherwise the water will come out when the whistle goes.

Until next time,

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