Dear Senthil’s Kitchen fans, how are you all doing? Sorry for the break in blogging – I took a much needed vacation and am here fully charged to resume sharing awesome recipes from Senthil’s Kitchen!
In today’s blog, I will share the recipe for one of the most favorite breakfast items in South India – Pongal! Speaking about Venn Pongal (“Venn” means “white”), or the Savory or Spicy Pongal and the crispy Ulundu/ Urad Dal Vada combination along with piping hot sambar and coconut chutney… that is heaven on earth my dear friends!
Pongal is a comfort food, and is also a natural remedy for those who have difficulty sleeping (pun intended). But if you eat less Pongal (which is harder anyways, I start off with a small portion first only to make 3/ 4 more trips to the kitchen for additional servings), or use healthy ingredients substitutes I have listed below, you can manage the sleeping problem (to some extent). Or, do like what I do. If you accidentally doze off after eating Pongal, when you wake up, just look around and casually say “Oh my gosh! It looks like I must have been really very tired, I cannot believe I accidentally slept for two hours!”.
Pongal
A savory/ spicy porridge made with rice, moong dal and tempered with fragrant ghee, cashews, ginger, curry leaves, black peppercorns and cummin seeds!
Ingredients
- 2 cups Raw rice
- 1 cup Moong dal yellow split
- 1 pinch Hing
- Salt to taste
For seasoning
- ½ tbsp Black pepper corns
- 1 tbsp Cummin seeds
- 2 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 inch Ginger chopped or grated
- 12 Cashews
- 2 tbsp ghee
Optional ingredients
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 2 Green chilies chopped
- ½ cup Milk
Rice substitutes
- Brown rice soak for 30 mins
- Kuthiraivali Rice Barnyard Millet
- Kambu Pearl Millet
- Quinoa
- Barley
- Broken wheat rava (sooji) with skin
- Rava (sooji) polished
Moong dal yellow split substitute
- Moong dal green split with skin
Ghee substitute
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
Instructions
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Optional step: you can dry roast the moong dal and rice (separately) until they give out a nice aroma.
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In a pressure cooker, wash rice and moong dal and add 2 ½ times water, hing and salt to taste and cook for three whistles and switch off and let the pressure release naturally.
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Heat ghee on a pan, roast the cashews first and scoop them out and add to the Pongal. Then in the same ghee, add peppercorns, when they splutter, add jeera seeds, and when they turn slightly brown, add curry leaves, chopped (or grated) ginger, give a good stir and add to the Pongal and mix well.
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Serve with Sambar, Coconut Chutney or Kathirikai Kothsu.
Recipe Notes
- You can use rice and dal substitutes I have listed above for healthier options and for some variety. If rava (sooji) is used, it has to be dry roasted.
- Some people have the tendency to pick and remove black peppercorns from the Pongal (especially small kids and sometimes "BIG" kids too!!!). To avoid this, you can add crushed black pepper (pulse in a mixie) instead of whole peppercorns.
- My mom makes this Pongal with turmeric powder sometimes, and I absolutely love the color and the fragrance of the turmeric!
- You can also add half cup milk (reduce water quantity accordingly), and this gives the Pongal a creamy texture.
- Chopped green chilies can be added to spice up your Pongal.
- Coconut or Olive oil can be used instead of ghee.
Hello, my name is Senthil. I am a passionate food blogger from Houston, Texas. This is my online kitchen, and I will be cooking delicious recipes for you, provide kitchen tips that I have learned over the years, and share personal stories and fond memories around food. Keep checking out for new stuff!
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