Ponganalu

Ingredients :

• Whole black gram (urad dal) – 1 cup
• Brown rice – 2 cups
• Onions, chopped – 1 cup
• Olive oil – 1/2 tbsp
• Green chilies broken into pieces – 4
• Cumin – 1 tbsp
• Chopped coriander/cilantro – 1/4 cup
• Salt to taste

Procedure :

• Soak urad dal and rice for 12 hours (overnight)
• Grind them into a fine paste adding very little water. You need a good blender (ideally a wet grinder is the best) for doing this.
• Scrape the batter into a tight lidded vessel and store in a warm dark place for about 8 hours.
• After 8 hours (by now the batter should be fermented and should rise a bit) add about 1/2 cup of water to adjust the consistency (it should be similar to pancake batter). Add chopped onions, green chilies, cilantro, cumin and salt according to your taste. Keep aside.
• Heat the pongadaalu pan and add 2-3 drops of olive oil in to each of the ‘wells’
• Scoop some batter and cover the pan with a lid. Cook until the top layer is firm (about 5 mins on medium high heat) 
• After they are cooked on one side, the pongadaalu should be reversible easily.
• Reverse and cook for another 30 sec
• Serve hot with peanut chutney