Venn Pongal - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup green gram dal (aka moong dal)
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns
12 cashews, quartered
1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (aka clarified butter) or 1/4 cup ghee (aka clarified butter)
4 -5 curry leaves (optional)

Preparation

Dry fry the green gram dal lightly.
Put the dal, salt and rice in 3 cups water and bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, stirring often until rice is soft and water is absorbed.
Make a course powder of the cumin seeds and black pepper either in a morter and pestle or a spice grinder (I use a Magic Bullet).
In a pan, heat ghee or butter, fry the cashews lightly and add the spice powder until it is scalded. Add the ginger and scald a bit more.
Pour the mixture into the rice and stir well. Optionally, curry leaves may be added.