Pongal /Rice and Dal dish

Ingredients:
Broken rice : 1 cup
Moong Dal : 1 cup
Pepper coarsely crushed : 1 Tbsp
Salt : 2 tsp
Green chillies : 4 chopped fine
Fresh ginger scraped and cut fine : 1 inch
For seasoning:
Jeera (cumin seeds) : 2 Tbsp
Fresh Ghee : 1/2 cup
cashew-nuts : 10 numbers
Curry leaves (Karibeva) : 10 to 15
Method:
Wash and soak rice and dal in a vessel 6 cups of water for 15 minutes. To this add chopped ginger and green chillies. Add half of pepper and 1 tsp of jeera and salt and mix well. Keep the vessel covered in a cooker and cook for three whistles or 10 minutes on sim fire.When done and the cooker is cooled down remove the vessel out and stir the cooked contents. Add hot water if necessary and adjust salt if necessary.The cooked dal and rice should be more on fluid side as it absorbs the water and becomes tough when cool.The spoon should move freely when mixing. Finally season with ghee, jeera,pepper,cashewnuts and karbev leaves and serve hot with tomato chutney or onion chutney.

Simple Upma

Ingredients:
Bombay Rava: 1 1/2 cups ( rava is semolina, use medium rava not bansi rava)
Green chillies slit: 5
Curry/karbev leaves: 7 or 8
Fresh ginger chopped to tiny: 1 tsp piece
Grated coconut: 1 1/2 cups
Mustard: 1 tsp Udid dal : 3 tsp
Refined cooking oil : 3 to 4 Tbsp ( add 1/2 teaspoon ghee if desired)
Boiling water : 3 cups
Salt: to taste

 Method:
In a wok add the oil, and when hot add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters add udid dal and fry till golden brown. Next throw in green chillies, chopped ginger and curry leaves. Saute for 30 seconds don't roast-green chillies should be green!. Now add the rava and salt, mix well and saute for 2 minutes. Add boiling water slowly and keep stirring till the water completely covers the ingredients in the wok. Cover and let cook for 3-5 mins on low flame. Finally spread the coconut scrapings on top and serve hot at breakfast or at tea time.