Ven Pongal, Sambar, Coconut Chutney & Medu Vadai. Favorite breakfast combo ever. I This takes in our meal rotation atleast twice ot thrice a month. This is a family favorite. Pongal can be served with coconut chutney and sambar. If you have time then please make some crispy medu vada.
Pongal is a typical south indian dish that is usually served with sambar or chutney. Apart from idli and dosa, this one holds it unique place in all home.
About Ven Pongal
Pongal is served in the morning as breakfast. It is a protein rich one pot meal which is really nutritious. I hope you all like it...Let me know what you think.
This is made from raw rice also known as pacharisi which has more starch than regular ponni rice. Raw rice is mixed with yellow moong dal and made into this dish. Pongal is a well balanced dish to consume for breakfast since it has dals added it is rich in protein too. South indian loves their ven pongal with all the accompaniments.
Ven pongal makes the best baby food as well. if you are making this for babies, instead of raw rice use regular rice. Since raw rice (pacharisi) for babies can be hard to digest.
If you want to make a healthy version of pongal. Check out my rava pongal, poha pongal, thinai kara pongal and millet pongal.
Ven pongal can be made at home in either pressure cooker or on instant pot. Either way the ingredients are same but the method of making may vary.
How to Make Ghee Ven Pongal in Pressure cooker.
- Dry roast moong dal till it is aromatic. Then add in rice and wash it together once. Add water and pressure cook.
- Seasoning is what makes pongal taste delicious. So add a good amount of ghee.
- Fry the seasoning in the ghee and pour over the pongal.
- Mix the pongal once and serve.
- Pongal must be served hot for the best taste.'
How to Make Ven Pongal in Instant Pot
Recently instant pot is widely used in making pongal. Making ven pongal in instant pot is very similar to making it in pressure cooker.
- Follow the same process as pressure cooker.
- Set the instant pot to pressure cook mode and set for 12 mins.
- Once the timer is up, leave it for 10 mins. Then manually release the pressure.
- Do the tempering as given and pour over the pongal. Mix well and serve.
- Another method of making pongal in instant pot is given in the recipe card.
You can easily make ven pongal like saravana bhavan easily at home too. All you need is to understand few steps and few tricks.
Also check out my saravana bhavan style rava khichdi, coconut chutney and kaima idli
Pro Tips
- Ratio of rice and dal is up to you. You can use equal amount of rice to dal in making pongal.
- Use raw rice for the best texture. raw rice has more starch compared to regular rice which gives a softer pongal.
- Using generous amount for ghee is important. You can use equal amount of ghee and oil..
- Usually for every 1 cup of rice and ½ cup dal, you need 5 cups of water.
- Pongal may look runny when you open the lid, but as it cools it will thicken.
Follow all these tips and tricks to get soft ven pongal at home.
There is a huge debate whether pongal is healthy or not. Here are few of of your frequently asked questions answered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is pongal healthy?
Ven pongal has rice and dal used to make it. Dal is one of the healthiest grain to use with. It is rich in protein. pongal is one of the wholesome dish and very healthy.
Is pongal and khichdi same?
both are very similar in texture and look wise. but in khichdi we usually use onions which we won't use in pongal.
Here is my recipe for plain khichdi and masala vegetable khichdi
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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Ven Pongal Recipe | Ghee Pongal Recipe | How to Make Soft Pongal
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw rice
- ½ cup split yellow moong dal
- salt to taste
- 5 cup water
For Seasoning
- ¼ cup ghee
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 10 cashew nuts
- 2 no green chilli chopped finely
- 2 tbsp ginger grated
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 sprig curry leaves
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Method
- Wash rice and dal. Drain it and set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pressure cooker and add in rice and dal. Fry this for 5 mins..
- Pour in the water and bring this to a boil. Add in salt.
- Cover and cook for 4 whistle and simmer it for 5 mins. Let the pressure release by itself. Open the pressure cooker and mix well.
- Heat ghee in a kadai and add in cashews, cumin seeds, pepper, ginger, green chilli, curry leaves and sauté this for a minute.
- Now add in rice and dal mixture and mix well. Let the rice absorb all flavours.
- Set aside covered for 10 mins.
- Serve hot with sambar or chutney.
Instant pot method
- Set instant pot to saute mode.
- Add in ghee along with all seasoning and let them sizzle.
- Add in rice and dal along with water, salt.
- Cover the instant pot and pressure cook for 9 minutes
- once pressure is released, give it a stir. keep covered for another 10 mins.
- Serve hot with some ghee drizzled on top.
Video
Notes
- Ratio of rice and dal is up to you. You can use equal amount of rice to dal in making pongal.
- Use raw rice for the best texture. raw rice has more starch compared to regular rice which gives a softer pongal.
- Using generous amount for ghee is important. You can use equal amount of ghee and oil..
- Usually for every 1 cup of rice and ½ cup dal, you need 5 cups of water.
- Pongal may look runny when you open the lid, but as it cools it will thicken.
- If you feel your pongal is too thick, you can add some hot water or extra hot milk to adjust the consistency.
How to make ven pongal( step wise photos)
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Take all your ingredients... |
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Heat some ghee in pressure cooker |
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add in rice and dal |
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fry for 5 mins |
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pour in water and salt |
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bring that to boil...Cover and cook |
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Till the rice is cooked |
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Melt some ghee |
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add in cashews |
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then ginger... |
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cumin seeds.... |
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green chillies.... |
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pepper.... |
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and your curry leaves |
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fry for 1 min... |
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add in the rice and dal mixture |
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mix well |
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Enjoy |
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Kaveri
I surely can't say not that plate in the last click...looks mouthwatering, and making me hungry.
cajunlicious
WOW! These flavors sound so amazing and I love the cashews in the dish!
MyKitchen Flavors-BonAppetit!.
Yumm and delicious Venpongal.My fav Breakfast item dear. Tasting it visually.Thanks for the treat.
Torviewtoronto
delicious looking combination looks wonderful
Madhavi
WOW amazing clicks..and yummyyy pongal!!!
http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/
Krithi's Kitchen
Quite a while since I made this.. soul comforting... with chutney and sambar.. slurp..
Krithi's Kitchen
Event: Serve It - Steamed
Dzoli
This type of breakfast would surely give you enough energy for wuite soem hours.And sounds delicious on top of taht:)
Priya
Just drooling over that last click, soo tempting..
Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal
Absolutely love ven pongal.
R
luv this all time classic recipe! can't wait for ur sambar recipe....
Chitra
the rice is all smashed up and soft...love this texture in venpongal...
RAKS KITCHEN
Yummy, nothing can beat this, long time since I made/had this! This weekend, idhu dhan breakfast 😉
Sharmilee! :)
Nothing can beat this for breakfast...yummy
Rekha shoban
this is the perfect pongal....whenever i do pongal either overcooked or lesscooked...will try ur ratio and do it...thank u for sharing!
Priti
I love this too ...and your's looks perfect dear
Valarmathi Sanjeev
Love this...looks absolutely delicious....mouthwatering and yummy.
Prathibha
I love this anyday...looks perfect
Joanne
I'm always looking for new fun ways to cook rice! This sounds super tasty!
Beno Eniphs
plz tell me how to prepare tender coconu pudding.
Anonymous
Can we make this using green gram instead yellow split moong dal
Aarthi
@Anonymousit will affect the texture and taste
kunal gupta
Seems very taste 😉 also check
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Anonymous
May I know wat type of rice it s...?? Raw rice( pacharici)or parboiled one
Aarthi
@Anonymousit is normal cooking rice, which we use in cooking
MADHUSUDHANAN
Hi can we use only moong daal without rice , Rice is not ok for me ...?
Anonymous
That will be a dal then. Not pongal.
kumar
Thanks for sharing the Pongal recipe tips. It is very nice Post. Today I prepared to Melagu (rice) Pongal Recipe http://bit.ly/2uYI51m
Jenny Jackson
Taste was wonderful. But it definitely won't suffice for 4 to 5 ppl, if we don't have ulundha vadai as side. Maximum 3 people.