Jan 14, 2011

Red rice pongal

It is my privilege to wish all readers a very Happy Sankranti / Pongal. In keeping with my wish to share tasty and healthy recipes, I have assembled a healthy version of sweet pongal. Here’s to happy, healthy eating.
Red rice pongal
red rice
You need
  1. Red Rice - 1 1/2 cups 
  2. Jaggery - 2 1/2 to 3 cups (I used the round ball kind)
  3. Cashew nuts – halved, a generous handful
  4. Ghee – melted, 1 cupful
To assemble
  1. Wash the red rice at least in three changes of water. Soak the washed rice for half an hour prior to cooking.This helps the rice to cook to a soft texture.
  2. Pressure cook the rice with 3 times volume of water.I used 4 1/2 cups of water for 1 1/2 cups of rice.I pressure cooked it up to 1 whistle on high flame and then simmered flame and cooked for a further 10 minutes.I had  a nicely cooked soft rice at the end of this.soft cooked red rice
  3. Break the jaggery you are using into large pebble sized pieces.Take the measured jaggery in a heavy bottomed pan, pour enough  water to cover the jaggery ( I needed 1 1/4 cups of water), and bring the solution to a boil. Stir lightly. When the water just starts boiling switch off flame. Wait for allDissolving jaggery in water jaggery to dissolve. Use a large fine sieve / colander to filter the impurities in the jaggery solution.
  4. Mix in the jaggery water and cooked rice, cook on high flame stirring briskly. bubbling pongal in progressOnce they are mixed well, reduce flame and keep stirring continuously, mashing with the back of the ladle as you go along.
  5. Add a couple of tablespoons of ghee as the pongal bubbles away.The pongal is done when it looks like a homogenous,semi-solid,  glossy mass.
  6. Fry the halved cashews in the rest of the ghee, pour with love over the pongal. Your delicious, healthy, fit-for-the-Gods pongal is now ready!
 Pongal fit for the Gods!
Notes
  • It is very important to cook rice to a soft mush for the pongal. Once the jaggery and cooked rice are combined, the rice will not cook any further and you could end up with a chewy or a ‘biting hard grainy’ texture.
Nutri notes
  • In India, the term red rice is used loosely to denote brown rice, unpolished rice, or hand pounded raw rice. So it  means rice where the grain is dehusked but bran is retained to a full or partial degree.
  • The benefits of rice bran are several. The bran is very rich in fibre –
  • Hence it is recommended to avoid conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood sugar, or heart disease.
  • For diabetics, and for patients of coronary heart disease, too, eating red / brown rice is recommended . It helps bring blood sugar levels down and prevents cholesterol formation in arteries.
  • Fibre helps easy normal bowel movements, so regular eating of red rice guards against constipation, piles, prevents diverticulosis, and several studies show results that  a regular high fibre diet guars against colon cancer too.
  • Besides fibre, rice bran is rich in iron, manganese, selenium, and most of the B complex vitamins. We stand to lose all these in white polished rice.
  • Apart from red rice, this recipe contains jaggery, another ‘unpolished’ food. Jaggery has higher levels of iron and trace minerals than refined sugar. Jaggery is also sweeter, hence you can use lesser quantity in a recipe. Due to this jaggery is a safe sugar substitute for people with borderline diabetes (within allowed daily limits).
  • Ghee added to this recipe does add to the fat content and to the richness of the dish – which reminds us to indulge in moderation!

36 comments:

Raji said...

Healthy and yummy looking pongal and so informative post..thanks :)

Uj said...

A completely new dish with brown rice.. Looks delicious though :)

Padhu Sankar said...

Healthy pongal recipe .Do drop by
Padhuskitchen
when u find time

veena said...

wow!!!!!!!!!such a healthy pongal

aipi said...

Wow..this looks n sounds superb and definitely healthy!!

Happy Pongal..

US Masala

Mangala Prabhu said...

Hi Rajani, this makes me hungry! The pictures look so good.

Rajani said...

Hi Foodie,welcome.So glad you found it informative.
Ujwal, this recipe is an easy way to start on red / brown rice if you havent.
Padhu,this one sure is tasty and healthy,thanks for visiting keep dropping in.
Veena and aipi,glad to have you here,do try it out and let me know how it was.
Mangala,geee,I am happy you noticed the pics - I tried a different spot and lighting this time.

Aruna Manikandan said...

First time here....
Pongal looks healthy and delicious...

glad to follow u...
check my space when u find time :)

Priya Suresh said...

First time here, red rice pongal looks absolutely inviting..

kitchen queen said...

delicious and yummy pongal.you have a nice blog,you can visit my blog and give ur valuable comments.

Prema said...

First time here....
Pongal looks healthy and delicious...Am following ur recipes...
check my space when u find time...
www.premascook.com

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Hy Rajani,
very healthy n innovative recipe..
first time here..wonderful space you have..
Am your happy new follower now..
do check out mine sometime..
Tasty appetite

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful recipe...and a very informative post..First time here and "Hats off" to you for doing such a good job..Keep rocking..will be a regular here ....Drop into my space sometime.
Reva

SpicyTasty said...

Never tried pongal with red rice. Sure a treat!!

Rajani said...

Aruna,Priya,thank you so much for encouraging me.
Kitchen queen,you truly seem to be the queen of your home, not just kitchen,glad to have you here,keep visiting.
Jay and Revathi,you have done up you websites so well,I am humbled and honoured to have you here.Your 'honest feedback' is welcome.
Shriya, Arthi, Nithu ,I am so happy to have you visiting my blog.Your space rocks,will be visiting quite often, get ready for a spate of comments from me!

jayasree said...

Woow..Pongal with red rice is great. Loved the last pic, esp the cute little Pillayar.

ManPreet Kaur said...

bouth he aacha blog hai aapka dear

Keep Visiting My Blog Thanx...
Lyrics Mantra
Music Bol

Prathima Rao said...

Wow...Such a healthy & tasty dish...U have lot of such recipes in ur blog & i love it!!!! Glad to have dropped by & will keep visiting...Glad to be ur follower...And do drop in to my space sometime..Good luck to u in this food bloggin world!!

divya said...

Pongal looks healthy and delicious..

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Rajani
Happy New year to you. (for 2011 and not yet for 2012. ha ha )
I liked your comment at my blog. I know I am not posting Vege dishes even though majority of my blog followers are Vegies.
Actually I did not get any intimation on my dash board about your blog posting. I am checking it.
I like this sweet pongol, bit different from the one I tried. ( Rice , Mung dal et al)
Let me read all that I have missed here.
Have a nice weekend

Unknown said...

Looks not only healthy, but also very tasty!

Rajani said...

Thank you everyone for taking time to read and comment...boosts my confidence.
Ushnish da,only the rice used in this pongal is different..of course,I've not added milk,you can try adding part milk and part water too....

Satya said...

yummy pongal rajani

Santosh Bangar said...

delicious pongal

Padmajha said...

Hi,first time to ur blog.This pongal is for sure very healthy and tasty :).

Satya said...

Hi Rajani,
first time to ur blog ,u got a beautiful space here ...love this sweet pongal n ur badam halwa too ...yummy
if u get time do visit my blog
Super Yummy Recipes

Santosh Bangar said...

hirashmi
thaks for dropping comment i am also in banglore noe a days is there not any food bloggers meet so that we will meet here are many bloggers

Unknown said...

Looks very inviting..yummy pongal

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

Healthy and nutritious.
http://shanthisthaligai.blogspot.com/

Panchpakwan said...

Healthy and delicious pongal..

Torviewtoronto said...

looks delicious first time here
following you

Ramya said...

First time in your lovely space..such a good collection of healthy recipes:-)
Happy to follow u...

Charitha said...

Healthy recipe,delicious pongal
participate in this event:
http://womensera2008.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-first-event-announcement-lets-start.html

sangeeta said...

Hi Rajani...loved this pongal...i bought red rice from my chennai trip last month and am making lots of things with that , all savory....this one will be loved by the husband , something similar is made in UP and is called rasiya.

Anonymous said...

nice idea to make chakkarapongal with rd rice. As white refined rice is high in glycemic index! Awesome options are opening out to me...I am already going on a spree cooking with cracked wheat as opposed to rice!!!

Shobha

Satya said...

It is very super amma.I loooooooove it.
Satya.