Finely chop ginger, curry leaves and keep aside. Slit green chilli if using.
Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Keep the flame low.
Add Pepper corns firstly and saute till it starts to splutter, Make sure ghee should not burn.
Then add ginger, green chilli, cashews, hing and curry leaves. Saute for few seconds.
Lastly add the cumin seeds and mix well. Add the measured water immediately.
Add salt, mix well and close the lid of pressure cooker. Cook for one whistle in low flame.
Open the cooker after the steam is released.
Mash well and lastly add 2 tbsp of ghee.
Mix well and serve hot with chutney, sambar or gosthu.
Notes
If you are making for guests, add one to two more tbsp of ghee at the end before serving.
Usually vanaspati / Dalda is added in restaurants. But we all know its bad for health.. So its better to use ghee or cooking oil & ghee combination as it is low in calories too.
The quantity of water completely depends on the quality of raw rice.
My mom adds roasted pepper powder on top of pongal along with jeera and other things to get more spicy taste. As we don’t eat whole pepper corns, she follows this way to include pepper in our food.
Adding hing and ginger gives a restaurant touch. U can replace ginger bits with ginger paste or grated ginger too.
Some people add a cup of milk along with water. In that case, shelf life of pongal will reduce. But Pongal tastes more creamy and rich.