Rava Pongal Recipe

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.

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: people

Calories: 122kcal

Author: Neha Mathur

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.

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US Customary - Metric

Ingredients

½ cup Bombay rava (semolina)
¼ cup yellow moong dal (skinned petite yellow lentils)
3 cups water
salt to taste
1 teaspoon grated ginger

For tempering

2 tablespoons ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon asafetida
10-12 curry leaves
2 green chili peppers slit into half
10-12 whole cahsew nuts
6-8 black peppercorns coarsely crushed

Instructions

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 sambar.

Notes

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.

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 in an 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.

Nutrition