Breakfast, One Pot Meals, Pongal

How to make Ven Pongal | வெண் பொங்கல் | Khara Pongal recipe

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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.  

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 tooPin

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

Tri-colour Quinoa Pongal | How to make Quinoa Ven Pongal 
Quinoa Ven Pongal is a Gluten Free, Nutritious Pongal made with Quinoa and split green gram. Served for breakfast, brunch or dinner with Chutney or sambhar
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Quinoa Ven Pongal is a Gluten Free, Nutritious Pongal made with Quinoa and split green gram. Served for breakfast, brunch or dinner with Chutney or sambhar
Instant Pot Godhuma Rava Pongal
A savoury pongal (or pudding) made in Instant Pot with broken wheat grits and lentils. Served as breakfast with chutney and sambhar
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A savoury pongal (or pudding) made in Instant Pot with broken wheat grits and lentils. Served as breakfast with chutney and sambhar
Little Millet Pongal | Samai Pongal Recipe | GF Dishes
Samai or Little Millet Pongal is a quick, nutritious and filling Gluten Free breakfast or dinner made with Little Millet and Moong dal. Served hot with Chutney and / or sambhar .  
Check out this recipe
Samai or Little Millet Pongal is a quick, nutritious and filling Gluten Free breakfast or dinner made with Little Millet and Moong dal. Served hot with Chutney and / or sambhar .
Brown Rice Chakkara Pongal | கைக்குத்தல் அரிசி சர்க்கரை பொங்கல்
Brown Rice Chakkara Pongal is a delicious Brown Rice – Jaggery pudding made in Southern India for festivals and special ocassions. Served as an offering to the Gods.
Check out this recipe
Brown Rice Chakkara Pongal is a delicious Brown Rice - Jaggery pudding made in Southern India for festivals and special ocassions. Served as an offering to the Gods.

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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 tooPin

Preparation time : 10 mins. Cooking time : 10 mins. Serves : 3

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 tooPin

Ingredients needed to make Ven Pongal

  • 1 cup Raw Rice short grain rice
  • 1/3 cup Split Yellow Gram Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu
  • 4 tsp Ghee if vegan, sub with vegan ghee
  • 2 tsp Cashew broken into bits
  • 1/2 TBSP Minced Ginger
  • 1.5 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Asafoetida simply skip for GF
  • 1 TBSP Cumin jeera
  • 1/2 TBSP Black Pepper Milagu
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 1/16 tsp Turmeric opt.

      How to make Ven Pongal

      1. Wash Dal and Rice separately in several changes of water. Drain.
      2. In a pan, fry the dal in 1 tbsp of ghee till fragrant.
      3. 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  
      4. Cook this mixture with 5 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric for 5 whistles.
      5. If cooking on open pot, cook till dal is 95% done and rice is mushy. Keep stirring in beterrn 
      6. Cool. Mash this up with a wooden ladle till mushy.  
      7. In a pan, heat ghee.Prepare tempering of crushed jeera, black pepper, ginger, asafoetida, curry leaves one by one.
      8. Add the cooked dal mixture and adjust salt. Garnish with fried cashew.
      9. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee along with Coconut Chutney / Gothsu (Tamarind spicy gravy)/ Avial
        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 tooPin
        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 tooPin

        How to make Ven Pongal | வெண் பொங்கல் | Khara Pongal recipe

        Kalyani
        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
        5 from 4 votes
        Prep Time 15 minutes
        Cook Time 15 minutes
        Total Time 30 minutes
        Course Breakfast, Dinner Ideas, Tiffins
        Cuisine South Indian, Tambrahm, Tamilnadu Cusine
        Servings 3
        Calories 391 kcal

        Equipment

        • Pressure Cooker Sub with Instant Pot
        • Ladle
        • pan

        Ingredients
          

        • 1 cup Raw Rice short grain rice
        • 1/3 cup Split Yellow Gram Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu
        • 4 tsp Ghee if vegan, sub with vegan ghee
        • 2 tsp Cashew broken into bits
        • 1/2 TBSP Minced Ginger
        • 1.5 tsp Salt
        • 1/4 tsp Asafoetida simply skip for GF
        • 1 TBSP Cumin jeera
        • 1/2 TBSP Black Pepper Milagu
        • 1 sprig Curry leaves
        • 1/16 tsp Turmeric opt.

        Instructions
         

        • Wash Dal and Rice separately in several changes of water. Drain.
        • In a pan, fry the dal in 1 tbsp 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

        Nutrition

        Calories: 391kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 11gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 2339mgPotassium: 136mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 95IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 52mgIron: 3mg
        Keyword Arisi Pongal, Brown RIce Pongal, Chakkara Pongal, Gluten Free, Khara Pongal, Margazhi Pongal, Tiffins, Ven Pongal
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        21 Comments

        1. i love pongal with sambar and chutney

        2. pongal looks good 🙂

        3. Priya Suresh

          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..

        4. 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.

        5. Mélange !

          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)

        6. @ 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

        7. vaishali sabnani

          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:)

        8. Sensible Vegetarian

          Love this delicious platter, making me hungry in the morning.

        9. MySpicyKitchen

          Yummy!

          I like ven pongal with pacchi pulusu, tempered raw tamarind water seasoned with onion, green chilies and ginger.

        10. Our fav comfort food too!! Next time I shall try adding some milk as you suggested.

        11. Suma Gandlur

          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.

        12. Pongal and avial what a combo. looks so tempting

        13. Aparna Vijay

          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

        14. Archana Vivek

          I used to hate when i was young. But these days just make them quite very often and my hubby also loves this dish.

        15. @ Aparna – Thanks for dropping by !

        16. Love pongal, but I hardly ever make sambar with it, though I lover that combo..loves very nice..

        17. mildly indian

          5 stars
          Nothing more comforting than the smooth venpongal and the sambhar. I love this anyday.

        18. Mayuri Patel

          5 stars
          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.

        19. 5 stars
          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.

        20. Poonam Bachhav

          5 stars
          I love pongal and can have it any day. With curd,pickle and papad it is a soulful meal.

        5 from 4 votes

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