Pongal
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Pongal

A savory/ spicy porridge made with rice, moong dal and tempered with fragrant ghee, cashews, ginger, curry leaves, black peppercorns and cummin seeds!

Course Breakfast
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Kara Pongal, Pongal, Savory Pongal, Spicy Pongal, Venn Pongal
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Senthil Sadasivam

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

  1. Optional step: you can dry roast the moong dal and rice (separately) until they give out a nice aroma.
  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Serve with Sambar, Coconut Chutney or Kathirikai Kothsu.

Recipe Notes