Ven Pongal is a classic breakfast dish in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu. This goes by various names like Khara Pongal, Savory Pongal, and Ghee Pongal.
This Ghee Pongal with medu vada is a common menu for breakfast in restaurants. It is very filling and can also be a lunch or dinner item as well. While this is a savory pongal, there is a sweet version of this commonly known as Chakkara Pongal .
Ven Pongal and gothsu are such a classic combination. Weekends are meant to relax, but with young kids, our weekends are crazier than the weekdays. Most of the weekends, we skip breakfast and have an early lunch.
Khara Pongal is one of the comforting brunches that I make often as it is very filling and perfect to keep us going for the whole day. My boys grew up eating Ven Pongal / kichdi.
Ghee Pongal is one of the earliest foods they were exposed to and they love the pepper cumin combination. The minute, my little one smells the pepper, he comes to me asking if I am making Milagu rasam or Ven Pongal.
I usually serve Ven Pongal with coconut chutney or peanut chutney , but this time wanted to try it with the famous mixed vegetable gothsu also known as the Kalyana gothsu. The combination was awesome and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Do check out the kalyana gothsu recipe that I made along with pongal.
Preparation time - 10 minutes Cooking time - 30 minutes Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Ven Pongal - Serves 4
- Rice - 1 cup (I used Sona Masoori rice)
- Payatham paruppu / Moong dal - ½ cup
- Black pepper / Milagu - 2 teaspoon + ½ tsp
- Cumin seeds / Jeeragam - 2 tsp
- Ginger - 2 teaspoon (finely grated)
- Ghee or oil or a mix of both - 3 tbsp
- Curry leaves - few
- Asafetida - ¼ tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Turmeric powder -½ teaspoon (optional)
- Cashew nuts - 3 tablespoon (optional)
Procedure -
- In a heavy bottom pan, roast the moong dal without any oil until it is aromatic and light brown. Now add the rice as well and give it a mix. Fry for about 2 minutes until the rice is heated through.
Transfer this rice/dal mixture to a vessel that you are going to use to cook it (I use the cooker vessel that I place inside the cooker), and wash it well.
Add enough water (I use about 5-6 cups of water) and cook it along with turmeric powder in a pressure cooker until the rice/dal is cooked very well and mushy.
I usually let the khara pongal, cook for 4-5 whistles in the cooker. Also, the amount of water I use is more than what I would use normally. This ensures that the rice is cooked well.
- Meantime, grind the black pepper and cumin seeds into a coarse powder in a spice grinder. You could add everything whole and not grind, but in that case, everyone picks through the pepper and does not eat it. When they are in the ground form we eat them and the goodness of it is utilized.
Once the rice is cooked, mash it well with a potato masher or a heavy spoon. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the ½ teaspoon of black pepper, curry leaves, asafetida, ginger, and cashew nuts, and fry for a minute. Now add the ground cumin/pepper mixture and mix well.
Add the cooked rice/dal along with the salt needed and mix well. Adjust the consistency by adding a little water if needed. I usually have my pongal on the thinner side as it hardens upon cooling. If preferred, add a tablespoon more of ghee on top and serve steaming hot with Gothsu or Chutney.
Other Pongal Recipes
- Thinai Ven Pongal | Foxtail Millet Savory Pongal
- Quinoa Chakkara Pongal | Quinoa Sarkarai Pongal | Quinoa Sweet Pongal
- Oats Pongal - World Diabetes Day
- Chakkara Pongal | Sakkarai Pongal | Sweet Pongal Recipe
Recipe
Equipment
- ▢ Pot
- ▢ bowl
- ▢ spatula
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 cup Rice I used Sona Masoori rice
- ▢ ½ cup Payatham paruppu / Moong dal
- ▢ 2 ½ tsp Black pepper / Milagu
- ▢ 2 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeeragam
- ▢ 2 tsp Ginger finely grated
- ▢ 3 tablespoon Ghee or oil or a mix of both
- ▢ few Curry leaves
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- ▢ to taste Salt
- ▢ ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder optional
- ▢ 3 tablespoon Cashew nuts optional
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom pan, roast the moong dal without any oil until it aromatic and light brown. Now add the rice as well and give it a mix. Fry for about 2 minutes until the rice is heated through.
- Transfer this rice/dal mixture in a vessel that you are going to use to cook it (I use the cooker vessel that I place inside the cooker), and wash it well.
- Add enough water (I use about 5-6 cups of water) and cook it along with turmeric powder in a pressure cooker until the rice/dal is cooked very well and mushy.
- I usually let it cook for 4-5 whistles in the cooker. Also, the amount of water I use is more than what I would use normally. This ensures that that the rice is cooked well.
- Meantime, grind the black pepper and cumin seeds into a coarse powder in a spice grinder. You could add everything whole and not grind, but in that case everyone picks through the pepper and do not eat it. When they are in the ground form we eat it and the goodness of it is utilized.
- Once the rice is cooked, mash it well with a potato masher or a heavy spoon. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the ½ teaspoon of black pepper, curry leaves, asafetida, ginger and cashew nuts and fry for a minute. Now add the ground cumin/pepper mixture and mix well.
- Add the cooked rice/dal along with salt needed and mix well. Adjust the consistency by adding a little water if needed. I usually have my pongal on the thinner side as it hardens upon cooling. If preferred, add a tablespoon more of ghee on top and serve steaming hot with Gothsu or Chutney.
Nutrition
More Entree
- Mooli Ka Paratha | Radish Paratha
- Vellam Sadam | Sweet Jaggery Rice
- Ajwain Paratha | Carom Seeds Flatbread
- Bikaneri Chana Dal Paratha | Lentil Stuffed Flatbread
Ven Pongal | Savory Pongal
Equipment
- Pot
- bowl
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice I used Sona Masoori rice
- ½ cup Payatham paruppu / Moong dal
- 2 ½ tsp Black pepper / Milagu
- 2 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeeragam
- 2 tsp Ginger finely grated
- 3 tablespoon Ghee or oil or a mix of both
- few Curry leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- to taste Salt
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder optional
- 3 tablespoon Cashew nuts optional
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom pan, roast the moong dal without any oil until it aromatic and light brown. Now add the rice as well and give it a mix. Fry for about 2 minutes until the rice is heated through.
- Transfer this rice/dal mixture in a vessel that you are going to use to cook it (I use the cooker vessel that I place inside the cooker), and wash it well.
- Add enough water (I use about 5-6 cups of water) and cook it along with turmeric powder in a pressure cooker until the rice/dal is cooked very well and mushy.
- I usually let it cook for 4-5 whistles in the cooker. Also, the amount of water I use is more than what I would use normally. This ensures that that the rice is cooked well.
- Meantime, grind the black pepper and cumin seeds into a coarse powder in a spice grinder. You could add everything whole and not grind, but in that case everyone picks through the pepper and do not eat it. When they are in the ground form we eat it and the goodness of it is utilized.
- Once the rice is cooked, mash it well with a potato masher or a heavy spoon. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the ½ teaspoon of black pepper, curry leaves, asafetida, ginger and cashew nuts and fry for a minute. Now add the ground cumin/pepper mixture and mix well.
- Add the cooked rice/dal along with salt needed and mix well. Adjust the consistency by adding a little water if needed. I usually have my pongal on the thinner side as it hardens upon cooling. If preferred, add a tablespoon more of ghee on top and serve steaming hot with Gothsu or Chutney.
