Ven Pongal is a South Indian-style porridge made using rice and yellow moong lentils. Pongal can be made sweet or savory. The savory version is called ven pongal or khara pongal and the sweet one is called sakkarai pongal. Make this protein-packed dish in 30 minutes in a traditional pressure cooker or instant pot.
If you like South Indian cuisine, then try these recipes too – Cabbage Pachadi, Mullangi Sambar, Mor Kuzhambu, and Salna.
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About This Recipe
Pongal is a popular South Indian style porridge made using short-grain rice, yellow moong lentils, and a few spices. It can be made sweet or savory. The savory version is called ven pongal or khara pongal and the sweet one is called sakkari pongal.
I have a detailed post about Sakkarai Sweet Pongal, so do check it out. In today’s post, we will talk about the savory version that is Ven Pongal.
Ven Pongal, also called Khara Pongal is a super flavorful and comforting savory dish that is made for festivals (especially Sankranti or Pongal festival) and auspicious days. It is also offered as naivedhyam (offerings) to god 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. You can call it a variation of North Indian Khichdi.
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 this 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 the 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!
Ingredients
You will find all the ingredients to make this dish in any Indian grocery store or online.
Rice – Use any short grain flavorful rice. Jeera Samba, Sona Masri, Surti Kolam, or Indrayani are some choices.
Traditionally pongal is made using freshly harvested rice and moong dal as they are soft and gives a gooey texture to it. But this fact should not deter you from making it with whichever rice and lentils you have at hand.
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.
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 – Other than ghee, you will need asafetida (hing), cumin seeds, curry leaves, green chili peppers, 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 in the soft pongal, so do not miss on it.
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.
Step By Step Recipe
Ven Pongal in an Instant Pot
Start by dry roasting the lentils. Add ½ cup yellow moong lentils to an instant pot, press “saute” and roast on medium heat until they are slightly fragrant. Keep stirring frequently. It will take 4-5 minutes. Do not roast on high heat otherwise, the lentils might burn.
Once the lentils are roasted, add ½ cup short-grain rice to the cooker and wash the dal and rice with water 2-3 times.
Drain and insert the pot back in the instant pot. Add 2 cups of water, salt, and ginger.
Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position.
Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 12 minutes at high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid. Mash the pongal until slightly creamy.
Ven pongal in pressure cooker:
Start by dry roasting the lentils. Add ½ cup yellow moong lentils to a pressure cooker and roast on medium heat until they are slightly fragrant. Keep stirring frequently. It will take 4-5 minutes. Do not roast on high heat otherwise, the lentils might burn.
Once the lentils are roasted, remove the cooker from heat. Add ½ cup short-grain rice to the cooker and wash the dal and rice with water 2-3 times.
Add 3 cups of water, 1 tsp grated ginger, and salt to taste to the cooker, and pressure cook for one whistle on high heat. Now reduce the heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes.
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 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. If the pongal is thick for your liking, add some boiling water to it and cook for another minute.
Tempering the pongal
Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Do not use oil for tempering and do not reduce the quantity of ghee.
Once the ghee is hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, ¼ tsp asafetida, 10-12 whole curry leaves, 2 green chili peppers (slit into half), and 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.
Note -If making it for naivedyam, add a pinch of turmeric to the tempering as white savory food is not offered to gods.
Pour the tempering over the pongal. Give a gentle stir and simmer for a minute. 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. Seeraga Samba rice is traditionally used in South Indian homes but even Sona Masuri or Parmal will do. 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, 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 little less water as mentioned below. I like the consistency a little flowy hence used 3 cups of water.
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, etc to make this recipe healthier.
Adding ghee and in right quantity is very important otherwise it will turn pasty.
Some people add a little milk to their 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 have had it with a little grated fresh coconut added 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.
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, 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 vegetable oil instead.
To make variations of pongal, rice can be replaced by millets, oats, rava (semolina), poha (flattened rice), or brown rice.
Both these dishes are made using rice and lentils as their main ingredients but they are very different in taste. Khichdi is 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.
How to Make Ven Pongal in Instant Pot
I like to cook the rice and lentils in Instant pot and make the tempering in a skillet over stove top. This method gives a very authentic tasting pongal.
Press SAUTE, and roast the lentils until fragrant. Then add rice to the pot and wash the roasted lentils and rice 2-3 times. Drain and insert the pot back in the instant pot. Add 2 cups of water, salt, and ginger. Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 12 minutes at high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid. Mash the pongal until slightly creamy.
Now make the tempering as mentioned in the recipe and pour it over the pongal. Serve!
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
Ven Pongal Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup short grain rice
- ½ cup yellow moong lentil
- 3 cups water
- salt (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 green chili peppers (slit into halves)
- 10-12 whole cashew nuts
- 10-12 black peppercorns (coarsely ground)
Instructions
Cooking rice and lentils in a traditional pressure cooker
- Add moong lentils to a pressure cooker and roast on medium heat until they are slightly fragrant (4-5 mins).
- Remove the cooker from heat. Add short-grain rice to the cooker and wash the dal and rice with water 2-3 times.
- Add 3 cups of water, grated ginger, and salt to taste to the cooker, and pressure cook for one whistle on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 10 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.
Cooking rice and lentils in instant pot
- Press SAUTE, and roast the lentils until fragrant. Remove the insert, add rice to it and wash the roasted lentils and rice 2-3 times with water. Drain and put the insert back in the instant pot.
- Add 2 cups of water, salt, and ginger. 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.
Tempering Ven Pongal
- Heat ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add cumin seeds, asafetida, whole curry leaves, green chili peppers, and coarsely crushed black peppercorns, and let them crackle for 4-5 seconds. Add whole cashew nuts and fry until they are slightly browned (1-2 minutes). Keep stirring while frying.
- Pour the tempering over the pongal. Mix and simmer for a minute. Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.
