Ven Pongal

( 92 Votes )

Details: Written by Archana Doshi; Hits: 88441

Ven Pongal

Ven Pongal is a very famous tiffin dish in Southern India. Pongal festival is to celebrate the harvest festival. It is a festival that is spread over four days. Pongal in tamil means something that is overflowing. The act of boiling over of milk in the clay pot is considered to denote future prosperity for the family. See more at The Pongal at wikipedia

At home we savor this dish with Kathirikkai Gothsu - Eggplant in a Tangy Gravy (south Indian version of eggplant in tangy tomato gravy) or a vegetable kootu( vegetables and dal in coconut gravy).

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup white rice
½ cup yellow moong dal/mung dal (split moong dal)
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon whole pepper corns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper powder
4-5 curry chopped leaves (when chopped releases extra flavor)
2 tablespoons halved cashew nuts
2 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Method

Heat a pan on medium heat and roast the yellow moong dal until a lightly roasted aroma is released. Don’t let it turn brown.

Wash rice and mix with the roasted dal. Add 4 cups of water and salt to taste. Cook using the pressure cooker method or in a pot until done. The texture is a personal choice, some like it grainy and a few like it mushy. So cook until you get the texture to suit your taste.

Place a small pan on medium heat; add the oil and roast the peppercorns for a few seconds. Add cumin seeds, ginger, curry leaves, pepper powder, asafoetida and saute for a few more seconds. Turn off heat and set aside.

Now heat ½ teaspoon of ghee in a small pan and roast the cashew nuts until golden and crisp.

Once the rice-dal mixture is cooked; add the roasted spices and the cashew nuts to the rice-dal mixture. Add the remaining ghee and mix till the spices have blended well into the rice.

Ghee enhances the flavor of this dish. Serve hot with ghee and Coconut Chutney or Kathirikkai Gothsu - Eggplant in a Tangy Gravy.

Comments

123

0 #28 Kitchen Appliacnes 2013-05-20 06:19

Wow my favorite South Indian delicious recipe..ven pongal :)

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+1 #27 New cook 2013-05-01 20:40

Hi,

Good recipe I will try when I get home. But why do you roast th.e daal? Won't it cook in the pressure cooker?

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0 #26 Parul 2013-04-18 05:59

Than u sooo much for posting this.... it came out awesome :)

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-1 #25 Shruthi 2013-03-27 06:40

Thanks for this.. I tried and came out very well :-)

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0 #24 Sham 2013-02-24 04:12

It came out very well for the first time only. add half litre of water and simmer the mixture (after mixing rice, and all other ingredients to the pan) for fifteen min adds to the taste.

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