Ven Pongal / Khara Pongal.
South Indian king of breakfasts Ven Pongal / Khara Pongal. Rice and dal/lentils cooked and tempered with cumin, pepper, ginger and ghee. With step by step pictures.
I was never a Ven Pongal fan until I became pregnant with my first born. I used to crave for a few things and Ven Pongal was high on that list. Not just any Ven Pongal. But Ven Pongal from a small little restaurant in San Jose called Komala Vilas. My husbands friend, whom we called Thambi used to come and stay with us over the weekends. Thambi is a foodie. He loved to eat out. So every Saturday, we would get up late, get ready and drive straight to Komala Vilas and have piping hot Pongal. Their Pongal was different. Pepper and Cumin was never whole in their Pongal. It was crushed, fried and then added. This little step took their dish to another different level. ‘What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?’ – Anthony Bourdain.
So lets make some awesome Pongal. Come with me.
Soak half a cup of rice in water. Preferably raw rice. I used Sona Masuri rice. Once we have done that, lets roast some lentils. Take half a cup of split moong dal and dry roast it on a very low flame until you can smell the roasted dal. It would take approximately 3 minutes. Don’t roast for long. Cook the dal and rice together in a pressure cooker with 4 cups of water for a good 15 minutes or 10-12 whistles. We need to cook it until well done. I dont add the rice and dal directly in the cooker. I place some water in the cooker and place a bowl inside and add the rice, dal and water to the bowl. This way the rice mixture does not scorch in the bottom.
Coarsely grind pepper and cumin with the help of a mortar and pestle. Set aside. Mince a teaspoon of ginger very finely. You will need some green chillies and curry leaves too.
Heat some ghee and oil in a pan. I used 2 tablespoons of ghee and a tablespoon of oil. Add in the broken cashew nut, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies. Roast on a low flame. Once the nuts are roasted add in the pepper-cumin mixture. Roast briefly for 20 seconds.
Add in the cooked rice-dal mixture and salt. Mix everything to combine. Saute briefly for a minute or two. Remove off heat.
Serve hot with chutney and sambar.
- ½ cup Raw rice (sona masuri)
- ½ cup split moong dal
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 Tablespoon broken cashewnut
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Soak half a cup of rice in water. Take half a cup of split moong dal and dry roast it on a very low flame until you can smell the roasted dal. It would take approximately 3 minutes. Donât roast for long. Cook the dal and rice together in a pressure cooker with 4 cups of water for a good 15 minutes or 10-12 whistles.
- Coarsely grind pepper and cumin with the help of a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- Heat some ghee and oil in a pan. I used 2 tablespoons of ghee and a tablespoon of oil. Add in the broken cashew nut, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies. Roast on a low flame. Once the nuts are roasted add in the pepper-cumin mixture. Roast briefly for 20 seconds.
- Add in the cooked rice-dal mixture and salt. Mix everything to combine. Saute briefly for a minute or two.
- Remove off heat.
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I am glad he came across your website. After almost a decade of cooking with internet help, kannama is his new found friend that has helped get him some amazing reviews from family and friends. So much so that I am also planning to try some few dishes that was considered just ok đ Thank You so much for turning my world around with your spectacular blogs!!
Thank you so much for saying that. It means a lot to me.
Your recipes are amazing! And I love the photos and instructions. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I had been wanting to cook all the foods I tried while in South India. It was the best food I’ve tasted in my life and your site is has helped me so much. For someone who is absolutely clueless, what type of chutney would you serve with this Pongal and the sambar?
Hi Virginia,
It is usually served with coconut chutney.
https://www.kannammacooks.com/south-indian-style-green-coconut-chutney/
https://www.kannammacooks.com/annapoorna-hotel-sambar/
Thank you. Glad you are liking the recipes.
Thank you again!
I tried this recipe today and it came out very well. I added a bit of asafoetida too. The ground pepper and Cummin made a whole lot of difference in the flavour. Thank you
Thank you very much!
Hey kannammacooks
Great points!
When I started searching about Pongal recipes on the web, then I might be getting a little bit confused all the recipes providers are posting same content, but in between, I have seen your web, then I have noticed that your content is so impressive and has the so much uniqueness.
I think you need to keep posting stuff like this.
-Dinesh Kumar
Thank you so much kannamma Garu..I tied your Pongal and my hubby finished it at a go…also I tried your idly batter which turned out awesome..
Thank you!
Yesterday i tried this pongal n it was a hit in party.esc that pepper n jerra powderinnghee was another level..thanks.god bless
Thank you. Glad you liked it!
Nice description about pongal. Very useful to folks like me
Thank you!
Awesome man.. thanks for the recipe mam..
Thank you so much. Really glad that you liked the recipe.
Hi Suguna,
I made it today. It came out really good! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will try a few more of your recipes soon.
Thank you,
Sudhakar Naraparaju
Thank you so much. Really glad that you liked the recipe.
It’s an awesome My Boys 12yrs and 8yrs, and my hubby never used to eat Pongal, but now when i followed this recipe, they just love it and it’s on demand, atleast once a week. Thank you so much
Thank you Vimala.
Akka
1/2 cup rice na 120ml dana?
4 cup water na 960 ml dana?
Akka pls reply ,,,,
1 cup is 240 ml. 1 tablespoon is 15 ml and 1 teaspoon is 5ml.
You are right.
Hi Suguna. I’m a beginner and preparing pongal for the first time. When should I add the salt?
When you do the final tempering in ghee. I have mentioned it in the post.
Thank you akka
Akka
Enaku pongal knjm watery consistency la vanthuchu
Picture la ulla madiri varanum na water level la kuraikalama
Apadina
Evlo water kammi pana?
Reply akka pls
Hi Anis. Just rest the pongal for 15 minutes and it will harden.
Akka
1/2 cup rice na 120ml dana?
4 cup water na 960 ml dana akka?
Pls reply, ,,,,,,
One more recipe that came out finger licking good!!! I never get the flavor or the rice consistency correct, but this time I followed the recipe to the T, except that I added a little bit more cooked rice in the end. But the flavors..yummm…hubby wiped the kadai clean :-). Happy Pongal!
Thank you Priya Srinivasa.
Hii…
Thanks heaps for this cut to cut details of the recipe, this is very similar to the KHICHDI preparation of the north, only the tempering is different
You are welcome Donna Joshi!
Usually for Venn pongal the rice and dhal ratio is 4:1 or 3:1 depending on the need. But first time I am seeing half and half. Won’t it be more mushy like paruppu sadham or this recipe demands this much dhal? But the recipe is awesome. I can feel the flavours by seeing the picture. Please clarify me since I am planning to make a big batch for my guests…
Yes. you are right. I use 50:50 dal and rice. You can reduce the dal if you are used to your ratio.
Thank you Kannamma for sharing yet another delicious recipe. It turned out very well. I have a question about dry roasting the dal, doesn’t this have to be washed first ? I know it’s a silly question I am a novice cook so apologies for my ignorance.
I love reading your blog, most of your recipes are foolproof which is really helpful to people like me.
Hi Himali, You can roast it first and then wash it if you want to.
When making masala etc, we use the dal as is right. We do not wash.
But, Its a nice thing to wash to be sure that the dal is clean.
It’s not moving it’s moong dhal the auto correct messes up everything I write
Is the dry roasting of moving dhal very necessary?
Hi Nandhini, dry roasting brings a beautiful aroma to the dal. Thats why I dry roast. If you are in a hurry, you can skip.
The description itself is very appetizing.
Please provide the recipe for various chutnies please.
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I cooked it today it’s awesome… Thank you for the recipe….
Thank You!
Hi,
Very strange bio.
Keep it up.
-Girish
Your recipes are good. I tried your sambar it was also nice and tasty, but that is not similar to Ratnacafe Sambar. I will give you the exact Rathna cafe sambar receipe by mail, if you wish.
Hi Nice recipe. But why hing is not added. We generally add hing and half the ginger with dhal n rice and pressure cook. Once the cooker is opened we add halfcup of mil n mix it and then all your other procedures followed.
You can add hing if you want. Just adapt the recipe to your family’s liking.
Recipe i tried it was very tasty. My husband loved this dish.
Thank you Kavyashree.
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for.
Do you offer guest writers to write content for yourself?
I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating
on a lot of the subjects you write with regards
to here. Again, awesome site!
Thank u so much for dis recepie.. It came out too good.. My son n husband loved it.. Jus tried dis morning.. Superb:)
Thats so nice Shilpa.
Going to try it out tonight. Trust it to be as tasty as it should be. Thanks in advance. I have seen some dry roast the cumin on the kadai or tawa before crushing for it to have the aroma in the dish
we will be roasting the cumin and pepper in ghee before adding. so the roasting part is taken care of. Dont worry.
Thank you for your well educative and appetizing recipes. You have really made a wonderful life to your site with Hong kong life and really it takes a real net shopping like window shopping. Thank you and wishing you more and more successful adventure recipes.
Thank you so much S.Ram. It means a lot to me.
I’m making this now- what would you serve with it? (what is shown in the picture?)
You will serve with sambar.
Came out super tasty…thank uuuui
Nice you like Tamil,it is really new thing that you grind pepper and cumin seeds.let me try tomorrow .
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. I learned to eat Pongal at Chennai during my recent trip and wanted to try out. Found your recipe online. Will try it this weekend. Tq
thanks for this awesome pongal recipe. Made it for breakfast today. Just too good and simple to make.
Awesome recipe Kannamma, I prepared Ven Pongal this morning for the first time, my husband and in-laws loved it. đ
Easy and clear step by step instruction.
Looking forward to try many other recipes from your website.
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Thanks Sneha. Welcome to the pongal club! đ
super I am making pongal second time. It taste super..
Thank You!
Hi Suguna,
I knw Vinodh n u while in SD …felt like having pongal today …was excited to c dat it is ur recipe…
I still rmmbr the taste of ur yummy mango cake u got for team potluck !!
Thank you so much Remya for remembering us. Hope you are good!
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Can I make this with maysoor dhal?
Hi Onella, I have always made pongal with Moong dal only. Never tried with masoor dal. So I really do not know if it works.