Vishu Kanji/Vishu Porridge

I love a fair portion of my starchy bites in the morning. You can see my love for the same here and here. Vishu Kanji is a new addition to my family, although Vishu Katta aka Pachoru is loved by everyone.

The festive occasion started with a breakfast Kanji. The morning was not really about Kanji. It was all about the preparations that went into my bowl of Kanji to be photographed, cleaning the mutkas, filling it up with dals.  If last Christmas I was on a hunt for orange peels, the day before Vishu like a maniac I was on a hunt for Val dal. Luckily it was a success as I returned with 2 packets of same. I am definitely a person who finds solace in search of cooking ingredients. My overstocked pantry says it all. So what about the determined Moms who is working on my serious condition. Good news is that half of my kitchen is clean except for the baking goodies being untouched for the fear of my in-laws’ high glycemic levels. 

Ingredients
Rose matta/Red parboiled rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Puliavarakkai/Val dal - 1/2 cup
Thin coconut milk - 1 cup (1/2 cup thick coconut milk + 1/2 cup water)
Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut for garnishing

Method
Dry roast dal on a stove top. Using a blender, crush roasted dal and reduce them to coarse grainy bits (Don't powder them). Keep them aside. Wash rose matta rice. Pressure cook rose matta rice. When the rice is more than half cooked, add the raw rice and crushed dal and cook them. Open the pressure cooker when it is all cooked and reaches a porridge consistency. Now add thin coconut milk and boil them well. Now add thick coconut milk and switch off the stove. Serve with grated coconut.

It is good to go with aviyal and thoran. Vishu Kanji is very tasty, can be had its own as a stand alone dish.

Alternatively, cook rose matta rice and raw rice separately. Cook crushed dals with water. When everything is cooked, combine both rice and crushed dals. Add thin coconut milk and give it a nice boil. Now add thick coconut milk just before it starts to boil. Serve this with grated coconut.

I highly recommend Kanji to all Moms out there with hyperactive kids to get going without fear of weighing scales moving faster.