Ven Pongal | Khara Pongal | How to make Ghee Ven Pongal ?

Ven Pongal (also called as Khara Pongal) is a traditional South Indian breakfast dish.  Rice and Dals are cooked together and further tempered by ghee, pepper, cumin, hing and curry leaves.  It is very easy and quick to prepare.  The flavour of ghee with pepper is the unique taste of Pongal. The shine and smell of ghee in pongal will tempt everyone to have more. It’s a comfort food and goes very well with Coconut chutney / Chidambaram Brinjal Gothsu / Sambar.  In the restaurants, the hot ghee pongal, medhu vada combo is very popular! Fully cooked pongal with right blend of spices and ghee is a satisfying breakfast – Rich, Healthy and Delicious

Ven Pongal is an offering to God in many temples

It is the traditional neivedhyam (offering to God) in most of the temple in Tamil Nadu.  Usually Rice (annam) is used to make prasadams. In Ven Pongal, both Rice and Dal are the key ingredients hence Pongal has been considered as a common neivedhayam in most of the temple. The pongal served in temple have unique taste. I have published a recipe for the temple style pongal here.

Tips for making Ven Pongal:

1. Water Ratio : Add 1/2 cup of more water than we usually add for cooking rice. We have used 1 cup of rice and 0.5 cup of dal which makes 1.5 cups. For 1.5 cups of rice+dal, we can use 5 cups of water.
2. Cooking in Milk : Instead of 5 cups of water we can add 3 cups of water and 2 cups of milk to make pongal even more rich and the color of the pongal will also be light.
3. Cooking Time : Allow 2-3 whistles more than the conventional rice cooking in pressure cooker. This will ensure the rice and dal are cooked completely and they are mushy.
4. Ghee matters : Be generous in adding ghee. Ghee adds the real flavor and taste
5. Spice it up with Black Pepper : Allow the pepper to fry completely in ghee and allow it to sputter. This will make the pepper more crunchy and less spicy.
6. Flavor with fresh ginger : Grate the fresh ginger once you open pressure cooker and mix well with pongal. This way the flavor of fresh ginger gets incorporated in the pongal.
7. Serve Hot : Before serving, you may want to add little boiling water in the pongal and mix it well. Then add little ghee on top of it and serve hot.  This will give a freshness to pongal and flavor of ghee. Pongal should be served hot.

If you like this Ven Pongal, then you can also try other traditional breakfast recipes

• Arisi Upma – Arisi Upma is a simple and easy traditional breakfast dish made using coarsly ground rice flour, toor dal and black pepper. It’s tradionally made using bronze vessal (vengalappani).
• Puli Aval Upma – Puli Aval Upma Recipe, tamarind infused poha, one of the traditional evening snack for marriages or engagement parties. Spicy tamarind gravy is prepared and damped and soft poha is tossed and mixed to make this delicious Tamarind Poha.
• Upma Kozhukattai– A twist from the normal Rice Upma. Very scrumptious and tasty upma with broken raw rice along with Indian spices. A very simple to make breakfast dish. Serve Upma Kozhukattai with Coconut Chutney and enjoy the dish.
  

  Recipe Card to make Ven Pongal

  

  Pin Recipe

  Ven Pongal | Khara Pongal | How to make Ghee Ven Pongal ?

  Course: All Recipes, Breakfast Dishes

  Cuisine: Indian Recipes, South Indian Recipes, Tamil Brahmin, Tamilnadu

  Equipments Needed

  • Heavy Bottomed Pan
  • Pressure Cooker

  Prep Time: 10 minutes

  Cook Time: 20 minutes

  Total Time: 30 minutes

  Servings: 4 people

  Calories: 134kcal

  Author: Sowmya Venkatachalam

  Ven Pongal is a comfort food in many house holds in South India. It's one of the popular break fast in Tamil nadu. Pongal is made by cooking rice & moong dal together and finally tempered with whole pepper, ginger, curry leaves in ghee. It's usually served with Sambar / Chutney / Ghotsu.

  Print Recipe

  Ingredients

  • ▢ 1 cup Raw Rice 1 Cup - 250ml
  • ▢ ½ cup Moong Dal
  • ▢ 1½ tsp Salt adjust to your taste
  • ▢ 1 slit Green Chilli
  • ▢ 1 tbsp Ginger (grated)
  • ▢ 5 Cups Water
  • ▢ 1 tsp Cumin Seeds

  Tempering

  • ▢ 4 tbsp Ghee (Clarified butter)
  • ▢ 2 tsp Black Pepper
  • ▢ 10 nos Cashew
  • ▢ 1 sprig Curry Leaves
  • ▢ 1 Pinch Asafoetida (Asafetida / Hing)

  Instructions 

  Dry Fry the Moong Dal

  • ▢
    Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add moong dal. Roast the moong dal in the dry pan till it turns light golden brown color.

  Rinse it

  • ▢
    Add the roasted moong dal with rice and rinse it thoroughly.

  Cook the Pongal

  • ▢
    Take the washed rice, moong dal, green chili, cumin and salt in a vessel. Add 5 cups of water. Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. This will make the rice cooked nicely and mushy.

  Tempering process

  • ▢
    In the pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee and add the pepper. Pepper slowly gets fried and starts to sputter. Once the pepper begins to sputter add cashews and fry till its light golden.
  • ▢
    Finally add curry leaves and asafoetida. Give a mix and swtich off flame.

  Mix the tempering with cooked pongal

  • ▢
    Open the pressure cooker and mix the cooked rice and dal. Add 1/2 cup hot water to adjust the consistency if needed. Give a good mix.
  • ▢
    Add the ghee tempering to the pongal and mix well.
  • ▢
    Finally add the grated ginger and mix well.
  • ▢
    Add 2 tbsp of ghee and give a final mix.

  Pongal Ready

  • ▢
    Now the Venn pongal is ready to serve hot. Before serving, reheat the pongal, sprinkle little hot water and mix well. Just before serving, top up with ghee to add more flavor!
  • ▢
    Relish with Coconut chutney / Chidambaram Brinjal Gothsu / Sambar.

  Video

  Notes

  1. Serve Pongal hot
  2. Before serving, you may want to add little boiling water in the pongal and mix it well. Then add little ghee on top of it and serve hot.  This will give a freshness to pongal and flavor of ghee.
  3. You can also add the ginger while cooking the pongal. But adding the grated ginger in the last step (in the cooked pongal) will give fresh flavor of ginger.

  Nutritional Info

  Nutrition Facts

  Ven Pongal | Khara Pongal | How to make Ghee Ven Pongal ?

  Amount Per Serving (0.5 Serving)

  Calories 134 Calories from Fat 27

  % Daily Value*

  Fat 3g5%

  Sodium 704mg31%

  Carbohydrates 24g8%

  Protein 4g8%

  * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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  INSTRUCTIONS WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES

  DRY FRY THE MOONG DAL

  • Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add moong dal. Roast the moong dal in the dry pan till it turns light golden brown color.

  

  RINSE IT

  • Add the roasted moong dal with rice and rinse it thoroughly.

  

  COOK THE PONGAL

  • Take the washed rice, moong dal, green chili, cumin and salt in a vessel.

  

  • Add 5 cups of water.

  

  • Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. This will make the rice cooked nicely and mushy.

  

  TEMPERING PROCESS

  • In the pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee and add the pepper. Pepper slowly gets fried and starts to sputter.

  

  •  Once the pepper begins to sputter add cashews and fry till its light golden.

  

  • Finally add curry leaves and asafoetida. Give a mix and swtich off flame.

  

  MIX THE TEMPERING WITH COOKED PONGAL

  •  Give a good mix. Add 1/2 cup hot water to adjust the consistency if needed.

  

  • Add the tempering to the cooked rice and dal.

  

  • Finally add the grated ginger and mix well.

  

  • Top with Ghee

  

  PONGAL READY !

  • Now the Venn pongal is ready to serve hot. Before serving, reheat the pongal, sprinkle little hot water and mix well. Just before serving, top up with ghee to add more flavor!

  

  • Relish with Coconut chutney / Chidambaram Brinjal Gothsu / Sambar.