Ven Pongal (Khara Pongal) is a South Indian savory porridge made using rice and yellow moong lentils. It is served at temples as prasadam or made in homes for breakfast. Make this temple-style protein-packed dish in a traditional pressure cooker or instant pot (vegetarian, can be made gluten-free).
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About Ven Pongal (Khara Pongal)
Ven Pongal (Khara Pongal) is a popular South Indian style savory porridge made using short-grain rice, yellow moong lentils, and a few spices. You can call it a variation of North Indian Khichdi.
It is a flavorful and comforting dish that is made for festivals (especially Sankranti or Pongal festivals) and on auspicious days to be offered as naivedhyam (prasadam, offerings) to gods in homes and temples.
Apart from festivals, it is also made for everyday meals as it is light on the stomach and is very easy to make too.
It can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner along with side dishes like coconut chutney, sambar, or gotsu. To keep things light, I like to serve it with plain yogurt and papad.
Every home in South India has its own way of preparing pongal recipe. There is Iyengar Style and there is Andhra Style. Temples have their own recipe to make this dish and so do the hotels.
The only thing common is the use of rice and yellow moong dal. The proportion of dal and rice may also vary from home to home though.
In this post, I am sharing a South Indian temple-style ven pongal recipe I learned from one of my neighbors in Bangalore. It’s super easy, uses very few ingredients, and tastes super delicious and comforting. You can make it in a traditional pressure cooker or instant pot. Read along!
I have a detailed post about Sakkarai Sweet Pongal; do check it out too.
If you like South Indian cuisine, then try these recipes
Ingredients
You will find all the ingredients to make this dish in any Indian grocery store or online.
Rice – Traditionally pongal is made using freshly harvested Sona Masuri rice and moong dal as they are soft and give a gooey texture to it. But this fact should not deter you from making it with whichever rice and lentils you have at hand.
If not Sona Masuri rice, use any short grain flavorful rice like Jeera Samba, Surti Kolam, or Indrayani.
Yellow Moong Lentil – You will need yellow moong dal (husked and split petite yellow lentils).
Ginger – Adding fresh ginger while cooking the rice and dal really oomphs up the flavor and seasons the dal and rice from within.
Ghee – A ghee tempering really changes the way pongal tastes. Traditionally cow’s ghee is used to temper it, but you can use buffalo ghee too.
Others – You will also need asafetida (hing), cumin seeds, curry leaves, green chilies, cashew nuts, and black peppercorns.
If you want to make it gluten-free, then avoid adding asafetida in the tempering.
Use fresh and green curry leaves for the best flavor. You can adjust green chili peppers as per your preference.
Cashew nuts add a great crunch to the soft pongal, so do not skip them.
Black peppercorns are a must in this recipe. The flavors from black peppercorns really enhance the taste of a simple ven pongal. Some people add whole black peppercorns to their recipe but it gets overwhelming if you bite into one of these. I like to crush them coarsely in a mortar and pestle. This way, they make the pongla very flavorful without being too overpowering.
How To Make Ven Pongal
Cook The Rice And Lentils
In An Instant Pot
Rinse ½ cup yellow moong dal with water and spread on a kitchen cloth.
Air dry for 30 minutes.
Rinse ½ cup sona masuri rice and keep it aside.
Press the SAUTE button, and add the dal to the instant pot.
Roast the lentils until fragrant (5-6 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add rinsed rice to the cooker.
Add 3 cups of water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon grated ginger and stir well.
Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position.
Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer at high pressure for 12 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
Release the remaining pressure by moving the valve to the venting position and open the lid.
Mash the pongal until slightly creamy.
Add more water if needed. Check for salt and add more if needed.
In A Stovetop Pressure Cooker
Rinse ½ cup yellow moong dal with water and spread on a kitchen cloth.
Air dry for 30 minutes.
Rinse ½ cup sona masuri rice and keep it aside.
Add moong lentils to a pressure cooker and roast on medium heat until they are slightly fragrant (4-5 mins), stirring frequently.
Add rinsed short-grain rice to the cooker.
Now add 4 cups of water, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, and 1 teaspoon salt to the cooker, and stir gently.
Pressure cook for one whistle on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 12 minutes.
Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally.
Open the lid and lightly mash the pongal with the back of a ladle until it is slightly mushy and creamy.
Add more water if the mixture is too thick. It should have the consistency of a porridge.
Check for salt and add more if needed.
Temper The Pongal
Heat 3 tablespoon ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
Once the ghee is hot, add
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida
- 10-12 whole curry leaves
- 2-3 green chilies (slit into half)
- 10-12 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). Keep stirring while frying.
Pour the tempering over the pongal and mix well.
Tip – Save some tempering for garnishing.
Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.
Pro Tips By Neha
Pongal recipe tastes best when prepared fresh. Make the quantity only for one meal.
Use any small grain rice to make it. Some examples are Seera samba, Sona Masuri, Parmal, or Indrayani. Ideally, newly harvested dal and rice are best to make this dish as they give a creamy texture to it.
The dal and rice ratio can be changed according to your personal preference. I like to use 50:50 dal and rice but some people use more rice and less dal.
To save time, you can roast moong dal in bulk, cool it, and store it in an airtight container. Use it to make pongal.
In case you have leftover pongal, add some water to it before refrigerating. It will thicken when refrigerated and adding some water to it will take care of the consistency.
Some people make very thick Pongal. If you like that consistency, then use a little less water as mentioned in the recipe. I like the consistency a little flowy.
If the pongal is watery, then cook it for 3-4 minutes on medium heat until the right consistency is achieved.
You can add chopped vegetables like peas, carrots, green beans, etc. to make this recipe healthier.
Adding ghee in the right quantity is very important otherwise it will turn pasty.
Some people add a little milk to their pongal recipe. You can try it too. Add ½ cup milk once the pongal is cooked and cook it for another 5 minutes. You can even try adding some coconut milk to it.
I sometimes add a little grated fresh coconut to it and it tastes delicious too.
Frequently Asked Questions
This dish is made using healthy ingredients like rice, lentils, and ghee. It is protein-packed and gives instant energy to the body. The key is to consume it in moderation.
If you want to cook it in a rice cooker, just roast the lentils in a pan and then add the roasted lentils, rice, water, ginger, and salt to a rice cooker. Cook until they are cooked well. Then prepare tempering in a pan and pour it over the pongal.
This recipe uses ghee tempering, which makes it non-vegan. But if you want a vegan version, you can temper it with coconut oil instead.
Both these dishes are made using rice and lentils as their main ingredients but they are very different in taste. Khichdi is the North Indian version of a savory porridge while pongal is the South Indian version. Khichdi is lighter and less spicy than ven pongal. Check out my khichdi recipe here.
If you want to make both sakkarai and ven pongal, you can cook the rice and lentils for both together. Then to make the savory version, add salt and grated ginger to half of the cooked mixture and give it a tempering of ghee, curry leaves, and black pepper. To make the sweet version, add jaggery syrup to the cooked mixture and give a tempering of ghee and cashew nuts.
You can easily replace rice with other grains like quinoa, couscous, foxtail millet, little millet, rolled oats, steel-cut oats, cracked wheat (dalia), semolina (rava), or even brown rice. Keep in consideration that cooking time might change a bit depending on the grain used. You can also use a mix of grains.
Serving Suggestions
Khara Pongal is traditionally served on a banana leaf with coconut chutney.
Serve it with a side of Coconut Chutney and Filter Coffee.
Pongal Sambar is a very popular combination. You can also serve it with yogurt, papad, and pickle for a quick meal.
Kootu also goes well with it. Other popular dishes to serve with this are Onion Gothsu, Kathirikai Gothsu, or Kalyana Gothsu.
Storage Suggestions
This dish tastes great when served hot and fresh. But in case you have leftovers, it will last for 3 to 4 days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
While reheating, add a little water and adjust the consistency, as it might become a little thick and dry while refrigerating. Give it another ghee tempering after re-heating to make it fresh again.
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Recipe Card
South Indian Temple Style Ven Pongal Recipe (Khara Pongal)
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
To Cook Dal And Rice
- ½ cup short grain rice
- ½ cup yellow moong lentil
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
For The Tempering
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2-3 green chilies (slit into halves)
- 10-12 black peppercorns (coarsely ground)
- 10-12 whole cashew nuts
Instructions
Cook The Rice And Lentils
In An Instant Pot
- Rinse moong dal with water and spread on a kitchen cloth.
- Air dry for 30 minutes.
- Rinse rice and keep it aside.
- Press the SAUTE button, and add the dal to the instant pot.
- Roast the lentils until fragrant (5-6 minutes), stirring frequently.
- Add rinsed rice to the cooker.
- Add 3 cups of water, salt, and ginger and stir well.
- Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position.
- Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer at high pressure for 12 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
- Release the remaining pressure by moving the valve to the venting position and open the lid.
- Mash the pongal until slightly creamy.
- Add more water if needed. Check for salt and add more if needed.
In A Stovetop Pressure Cooker
- Rinse moong dal with water and spread on a kitchen cloth. Air dry for 30 minutes.
- Rinse rice and keep it aside.
- Add moong lentils to a pressure cooker and roast on medium heat until they are slightly fragrant (4-5 mins), stirring frequently.
- Add rinsed short-grain rice to the cooker.
- Now add 4 cups of water, ginger, and salt to the cooker, and stir gently.
- Pressure cook for one whistle on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 12 minutes.
- Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and lightly mash the pongal with the back of a ladle until it is slightly mushy and creamy.
- Add more water if the mixture is too thick. It should have the consistency of a porridge.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
Temper The Pongal
- Heat ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add cumin seeds, asafetida, curry leaves, green chilies, and black peppercorns, and let them crackle for 4-5 seconds.
- Add cashew nuts and fry until they are slightly browned (1-2 minutes). Keep stirring while frying.
- Pour the tempering over the pongal and mix well.
- Tip – Save some tempering for garnishing.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.
Uma Raghuraman
Ven Pongal is not only a traditional dish but also a healthy one pot meal.Pictures look absolutely stunning Neha ! Happy Sankranti to you and your family!
msnehamathur
Thnx Uma 🙂