Buckwheat Pongal

#BuckwheatPongal : Last month when we went to a super market in Raipur, Chattisgarh to buy groceries where I came across a pack which looks just like channa but in different color & shape. From the label over the pack we came to know that it is Fafar Giri in Chattisgarh language. I enquired a girl working in that shop and she told me that people over here used to make flour from it. Then she told that they used to make roti or puri from it and used to consume during fasting days.

I googled and found out that fafar is called kuttu in Hindi.
Then learned that it is called Buckwheat in English.
Moreover I confirmed from googled images what we have purchased is Buckwheat.

Kindly Go through the links given below to learn about Buckwheat.

To know benefits of Buckwheat .


To know more about Buckwheat.

Buckwheat contains a glucoside called rutin, a phytochemical that strengthens capillary walls. One clinical study showed mixed results in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency.
Dried buckwheat leaves were manufactured in Europe under the brand name "Fagorutin" for use as a tisane.
It also contains galloylated propelargonidinsand procyanidins.

Buckwheat contains D-chiro-inositol, a component of the secondary messenger pathway for insulin signal transduction found to be deficient in Type II diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome. It is being studied for use in treating Type II diabetes.

Research on D-chiro-inositol and PCOS has shown promising results.

High protein buckwheat flour is being studied for possible use as a functional ingredient in foods to reduce plasma cholesterol, body fat and cholestrerol gallstones.

^{Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat}

Today I have decided to start my trial on this grain.
I took half a cup of buckwheat in a vessel and washed 2 times.
Then added 1 1/4 cup of water. Then I took a cup of water in a pressure cooker.
I placed this vessel inside the pressure cooker, closed the lid and put on weight.
I cooked over high flame for 3 whistles and then 5 minutes on SIM.
I opened after the steam completely subsides.
Wow!! saw the grains well cooked but seem to be sticky.
So I converted cooked buckwheat into pongal by adding cooked dhal and pepper powder.
It came out nicely and the taste was so good..
Then again on another day made pongal one more time to finish off my experiment.
Shall we see how I prepared pongal from Buckwheat?

The given ingredients just enough for two persons.

Ingredients :
1/3 Cup                               : Green gram dhal
1/2 Cup                               : Buckwheat (Papparai - பாப்பரை  in Tamil )
1 Tsp                                   : Pepper
1 1/2 Tsp                             : Cumin
1/4 Tsp                                : Turmeric Powder
3 cloves                               : Garlic
9                                          : Curry leaves
A small piece                        : Ginger ( Opttional )
1/2 Tsp ( adjust )                  : Salt

To Temper :
1 Tsp                                  : Cumin
1/2 Tsp                               : Pepper
5                                        : Cashew Nuts
2 Tsp                                  : Ghee

Method :
Wash buckwheat and green gram dhal two times.
Take all the ingredients in a pressure cooker.
Add 2 1/2 cup of water.
Mix well with a ladle.
Pressure cook on HIGH flame for 3 whistles.
Then reduce the flame to SIM position and cook for 5 minutes.
Wait till the steam subsides.
Open the cooker.

Keep a kadai with oil or ghee on slow fire.
Splutter cumin and then fry pepper and curry leaves.
Transfer on to the prepared pongal.
Now fry cashew nuts into golden color and transfer onto the pongal.
Mix well and serve hot with a dash of ghee.

Enjoy buckwheat pongal with Pongal thuvaiyal or Coriander chutney.





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