Quinoa Sweet Pongal

Quinoa lends itself easily to any dish where traditionally rice has been used. So it was no real surprise that the chakra pongal aka sweet pongal came out well when rice was replaced with Quinoa. The outcome is a satisfying protein rich quinoa sweet pongal.

Recipe

1. 1 Cup Quinoa
2. 1/2 Cup Moong Dal (Small yellow split lentil)
3. 3-4 pods of cardomom
5. Jaggery 1 Cup
6. Cocount grated 3 tbsp (optional)
7. Evaporated milk/Milk - 1 cup
8. Ghee/Butter - 2 tbsp

1. Slightly shallow fry the quinoa and moong dal in 1/2 tbsp of ghee until the raw smell of the lentil goes away
2. Pressure cook the quinoa, lentils, with 1 cup of milk and 2 cups water. You could increase the amount of milk and reduce the water.
3. In a vessel, put enough water to actually cover the jaggery. Let the jaggery melt and mix up with the water. Let this jaggery water solution thicken.
4. Add the powdered cardomom seeds
5. Add the grated coconut
6. Remove the pressure cooked rice and add it to the jaggery syrup.
7. Let it mix up well. Add the remaining 1-1/2 tbsp of ghee. Mix well and remove from fire after 5-10 minutes in medium heat