Payatham Kanji - Moong Dal Congee

Moong Dal is rich in vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium, and potassium. It supports weight loss. It helps in lowering the cholesterol level in the blood system. Moong Dal aids digestion. Payatham Kanji/Moong Dal Congee is one of the healthy & light recipes. Ideally, it can be taken during the upvas/vrat period. 

Planning & Pre-Preparation: 10 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins.

Ingredients

• Yellow Split Gram / Moong Dal - 1/2 Cup

• Water - 1.5 Cups (for Moong Dal) + ¼ Cup (for Jaggery) 

• Milk - 1 Cup

• Jaggery - 1/2 Cup

• Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp.

Directions

Cooking Moong Dal:

• Rinse and pressure cook moong dal with sufficient water for 3 whistles. Check whether the dal is cooked, if not cook for few more whistles.

• When pressure automatically settles down, open the cooker and mash well the Yellow Split Gram/moong dal to form a smooth paste and keep it aside.

Boiling Milk:

• On a heavy-bottomed vessel, add milk and bring it to boil.

• Once boiled, switch off the flame. Keep it aside and let it cool down.

Payatham Kanji / Moong Dal Congee preparation:

• Melt Jaggery on a Kadai by adding a little quantity of water.

• Once melted, filter it to remove impurities.

• To the Kadai add mashed dal and filtered Jaggery and mix well.

• Add Cardamom/Elachi powder and keep stirring until the Jaggery-Dal mixture gets thickened.

• When the mixture gets thickened, add the prepared lukewarm milk as per your desired consistency. Mix well.

• Payatham Kanji/ Moong Dal Congee is ready!!! Garnish with dry fruits before serving.

Points to be noted:

Following steps to be given attention to avoid curdling:

• Let the boiled milk cooled down before adding to the jaggery-dal mixture.

• Do not boil the congee again before serving.