Ven Pongal is a classic dish from Tamilnadu where Rice and lentils are cooked to a pudding consistency. Offered to God at temples or made for a quick breakfast too
One of the finest breakfasts in South Indian Cuisine has to be Ven Pongal (Tamil) / Khara Pongal (Kannada) .. We love to have Pongal - Avial combo on Sundays and make this almost twice a month. A typical Tamilnadu breakfast, tomes have been dedicated to Saravana Bhavan's version of Ven Pongal.
My best memory of some amazingly good Ven Pongal is at this non-descript village shack somewhere between Madurai and Coimbatore at 6am while I travelled between these two cities.. The glistening pongal with fiery hot coconut chutney was too good to resist, and I did help myself to, well a second helping !!
Well, I almost (?) got carried away in the poetry of food, rather share the ingredients with you.. Although the ingredients of this dish stay the same across households, the method (process) of making it varies along with the ratio of dal to rice.
What is Pongal ?
Pongal is a South indian Breakfast dish made with a combination of lentils and rice -its trademark taste and consistency is gooey creaminess redolent with the mild spice and ghee (clarified butter) that's used . Ven Pongal is also served as Prasadam (Prashad ) in a few South Indian temples.
Usually only Moong dal (split green gram) and short grained rice is used. Other variations that are now the rage are millets in place of rice. Furthermore, Rava / Semolina or godhuma rava (broken wheat / lapsi) are also used sometimes, with varying ratio of rice:lentils and dfferent taste.
Ven Pongal can be had with Tiffin Sambhar/ any chutney or even Avial (mixed veggies in a spiced gravy). Here it is served with Vengaya Puli Gojju (Onions poached in a Tamarind based Sweet spicy gravy)
Other savoury and sweet Pongal varieties you may like
PIN FOR LATER
Preparation time : 10 mins. Cooking time : 10 mins. Serves : 3
Ingredients needed to make Ven Pongal
- 1 cup Raw Rice short grain rice
- ⅓ cup Split Yellow Gram Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu
- 4 tsp Ghee if vegan, sub with vegan ghee
- 2 tsp Cashew broken into bits
- ½ TBSP Minced Ginger
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida simply skip for GF
- 1 TBSP Cumin jeera
- ½ TBSP Black Pepper Milagu
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1/16 tsp Turmeric opt.
How to make Ven Pongal
- Wash Dal and Rice separately in several changes of water. Drain.
- In a pan, fry the dal in 1 tablespoon of ghee till fragrant.
- Soak the dal and rice for 10 mins in hot water. This quickens the process and also makes the Pongal mushy even cooked without a pressure cooker
- Cook this mixture with 5 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric for 5 whistles.
- If cooking on open pot, cook till dal is 95% done and rice is mushy. Keep stirring in beterrn
- Cool. Mash this up with a wooden ladle till mushy.
- In a pan, heat ghee.Prepare tempering of crushed jeera, black pepper, ginger, asafoetida, curry leaves one by one.
- Add the cooked dal mixture and adjust salt. Garnish with fried cashew.
- Serve hot with a dollop of ghee along with Coconut Chutney / Gothsu (Tamarind spicy gravy)/ Avial
How to make Ven Pongal | வெண் பொங்கல் | Khara Pongal recipe
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker Sub with Instant Pot
- Ladle
- pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Rice short grain rice
- ⅓ cup Split Yellow Gram Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu
- 4 teaspoon Ghee if vegan, sub with vegan ghee
- 2 teaspoon Cashew broken into bits
- ½ tablespoon Minced Ginger
- 1.5 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida simply skip for GF
- 1 tablespoon Cumin jeera
- ½ tablespoon Black Pepper Milagu
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1/16 teaspoon Turmeric opt.
Instructions
- Wash Dal and Rice separately in several changes of water. Drain.
- In a pan, fry the dal in 1 tablespoon of ghee till fragrant.
- Soak the dal and rice for 10 mins in hot water. This quickens the process and also makes the Pongal mushy even cooked without a pressure cooker
- Cook this mixture with 5 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric for 5 whistles.
- If cooking on open pot, cook till dal is 95% done and rice is mushy. Keep stirring in beterrn
- Cool. Mash this up with a wooden ladle till mushy.
- In a pan, heat ghee.Prepare tempering of crushed jeera, black pepper, ginger, asafoetida, curry leaves one by one.
- Add the cooked dal mixture and adjust salt. Garnish with fried cashew.
- Serve hot with a dollop of ghee along with Coconut Chutney / Gothsu (Tamarind spicy gravy)/ Avial
Aarthi says
i love pongal with sambar and chutney
Monika says
pongal looks good 🙂
Priya Suresh says
Can have pongal and sambar atleast twice a week without any hesitation,but somehow i wasnt able to make them quite often,coz of my teddies,yep they dont like this..
Btw regarding ur qn about my clicks, usually i try to take them in day light that y they looks very bright apart from that i dont take special care, also i use mostly white background, hope this helps a bit for u..
Jayashree says
Pongal for breakfast is an acquired taste.....I know many people who balk at the idea of eating rice for breakfast even though they don't mind idli/dosa.
Mélange ! says
You are right there.Pongal is something we all love! It's an amazing dish and you have come with a nice version of the Ven pongal..Thanks for sharing.
(Btw,why when I try to add you in google reader,it shows the feed can't be found ? I am trying for the past two days dear)
Kalyani says
@ Jayashree - you are absolutely right.. Somehow people detest from eating rice for breakfast, but dnt mind processed food for cereals. I remember years ago how my aunt used to have thayir saadam at 6am to leave for her workplace that was 30 kms away,and she was absolutely fine:)
@ Dhyuthi - Thanks for letting me know, I shall try to rectify it.
@ Priya - Yes, getting kids to eat this is quite a task, even as a tiffin ! But as Jayashree says, its an acquired taste
vaishali sabnani says
can u bel..I had pongal for the first time recently......my daughter who is in chennai made it for us..n we all loved it...n now i have the rt recipe...looks grt...thnx:)
Sensible Vegetarian says
Love this delicious platter, making me hungry in the morning.
MySpicyKitchen says
Yummy!
I like ven pongal with pacchi pulusu, tempered raw tamarind water seasoned with onion, green chilies and ginger.
Harini says
Our fav comfort food too!! Next time I shall try adding some milk as you suggested.
Suma Gandlur says
We love this dish too. My MIL used to serve this with a tangy - sweet ginger gojju and that remains my favorite side dish to go with this.
Unknown says
Pongal and avial what a combo. looks so tempting
Aparna Vijay says
Pongal looks Yummy...You have a wonderful blog with yummy recipes..Do visit my blog whenever time permits..
Regards
Aparna Vijay
http://aparnacooks.blogspot.com
Archana Vivek says
I used to hate when i was young. But these days just make them quite very often and my hubby also loves this dish.
Vardhini says
Hubby loves pongal a lot 🙂
Vardhini
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Kalyani says
@ Aparna - Thanks for dropping by !
Srivalli says
Love pongal, but I hardly ever make sambar with it, though I lover that combo..loves very nice..
mildly indian says
Nothing more comforting than the smooth venpongal and the sambhar. I love this anyday.
Mayuri Patel says
It was about 15 years ago, I had pongal for the first time and was really surprised how similar it tasted to khichdi. Love pongal but have not tried making it at home. Your recipe is tempting me to try.
cookwithrenu says
One of my favorite comfort food and we call it khichdi, though a bit different in proportions. I like it with curd and papad. Absolutely delicious.
Poonam Bachhav says
I love pongal and can have it any day. With curd,pickle and papad it is a soulful meal.