Rava Pongal

Rava Pongal or Semolina Pongal is a healthy South Indian breakfast recipe made using rava or sooji (semolina) and moong dal. Make this wholesome dish using simple pantry staples and in under 30 minutes.

I simply love South Indian breakfasts due to their easy method and simple flavors. If you want to try more recipes, try these too – Rava Upma, Ven Pongal, Ragi Idli, Egg Dosa, and Ragi Vermicelli. 

Jump to:

• About This Recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make Rava Pongal?
• Pro Tips By Neha
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage Suggestions
• You might also like
• Recipe Card

About This Recipe

Rava Pongal, also called Semolina Pongal or Sooji Pongal is a South Indian style dish made using white rice and yellow moong lentil (yellow moong dal). Traditionally, Pongal was made using rice and lentils, but now many variations like oats pongal, poha pongal, broken wheat pongal have come up and rava pongal is one of the variations of the classic dish too.

It is a wholesome dish and tastes delicious. Just like the classic ven pongal, rava pongal is also served for breakfast. But you can definitely serve it for lunch or dinner or pack it for lunchbox as well. It is also made for the festival of pongal as a variation to ven pongal.

You can also make a rava sakkarai pongal which is the sweet version of this dish. Just follow my sakkarai pongal recipe and replace the rice with rava.

This Rava Pongal is,

• Simple
• Healthy
• Full of flavours
• Easy to make
• Prepared with minimal ingredients

Ingredients

Rava – This pongal is prepared with a coarse variety of rava (semolina), also known as Bombay rava. Do not use the fine sooji or Bansi sooji to make pongal otherwise, it will turn out mushy.

Sooji is lightly roasted before adding to the cooker with other ingredients. Do not brown it otherwise it will change the color of your pongal. You can use already roasted rava to fasten the process.

Dal – Along with rava, we will use yellow moong dal which is roasted and then washed before you add it to the cooker. High in protein, this dal is very beneficial when added to everyday meals.

Water – You can adjust the consistency of pongal by adding less or more water. Add salt to taste.

Ginger – Fresh ginger adds a nice subtle flavor, that makes this pongal even more delicious. So do not miss this one.

For tempering – Pongal is now tempered with ghee, cumin seeds, asafetida (hing), curry leaves, green chili peppers, cashew nuts, and black peppercorns.

Only use ghee for tempering, as it adds a nice rich and authentic taste.

Use fresh and green curry leaves for a better aroma. You can adjust the amount of green chili peppers to the spice level you need.

Cashew nuts are optional, but it does add a nice crunch.

Crush the whole black peppercorns lightly before adding. It adds a nice spicy taste, which is one of the most ingredients in the pongal.

How to make Rava Pongal?

Dry roast ¼ cup yellow moong dal on medium heat in a small pan until it is slightly fragrant and lightly brown in color (3-4 minutes).

Transfer the roasted dal to a bowl and wash it with water 2-3 times. Drain the water and keep the dal aside.

Now add ½ cup Bombay rava to the same pan and roast it on medium heat until slightly fragrant (2-3 minutes). Do not brown it. 

Add the roasted dal and roasted rava to a pressure cooker. Add 3 cups of water, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, and salt to taste and stir gently. Close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook for 3 whistles on high heat. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally. Once the pressure is released, open the lid of the cooker. Slightly mash the pongal with the back of a ladle or a wire whisk until it is creamy. Add more water if required.

Heat 2 tablespoon ghee for tempering in a small skillet over medium high heat.

Once the ghee is hot, add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon asafetida, 10-12 curry leaves, 2 green chili peppers (slit into half), and 6-8 coarsely crushed black peppercorns and let them crackle for 4-5 seconds.

Add 10-12 whole cashew nuts and fry until they are slightly browned (1-2 minutes). Pour the tempering over the pongal and mix well. Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.

Note – To make rava pongal in an instant pot, add the roasted dal, roasted rava, 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, and salt to taste to the instant pot and stir gently. Close the lid of the instant pot and set the valve to the sealing position. PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 4 minutes on high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid. Temper the pongal and serve hot.

Pro Tips By Neha

Make sure the pongal is not lumpy. Roasting the rava helps a lot and it is a must for making sure it doesn’t clump up.

Use coarse rava to make pongal. Coarse rava is also called as Bombay Rava.

To make the process quicker, you can roast the rava in bulk and store it in an airtight container whenever you have spare time. You can use this roasted rava to make many other dishes too.

This pongal taste best when prepared fresh. Make the quantity only for one meal. In case you have more, add some water to it before refrigerating. The pongal becomes thicker when refrigerated and adding some water to it will take care of the consistency.

Adding enough ghee is very important to make good pongal otherwise it will become like a paste.

You can add finely chopped veggies like carrots, beans, etc to this dish.

Serving Suggestions

Pongal tastes best just out of the cooker. If you plan to prep in advance, roast the dal and rava and keep. Just add water and pressure cook 10 minutes before you plan to serve it.

I like to serve rava pongal with mango pickle, coconut chutney, and a drizzle of ghee.

You can also serve it along with sambar of your choice. Papad on the side is a must for me personally.

This spicy Bombay chutney goes very well with it too.

Storage Suggestions

You can store this rava pongal in the fridge for about 2 to 3 days, in an airtight container in the fridge. While reheating, you can add a little water, as it becomes thick while refrigerating.

You can also store it without the tempering and give it a fresh tempering while serving it. Reheat it either in a pan or microwave.

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