Ven Pongal (Peppery Rice and Moong Dal with Ghee)
وین پونگل (گھی، کالی مرچ والی چاول اور مونگ کی دال)
Pongal is Tamil Nadu's comfort food: rice and moong dal cooked together until soft and creamy, then finished with a generous ghee of whole black pepper, cumin, ginger and cashews. If you know khichdi, you'll feel at home, but pongal is softer, richer and more peppery. "Ven" means white, to tell it apart from the sweet jaggery pongal made for the harvest festival of the same name.
- ⏱ Total: 40 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Cook: 30 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Dry-roast the moong dal in the pot for 3–4 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden. Add the rice and rinse both together twice.
Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 25 minutes (or 4 whistles in a pressure cooker) until the rice and dal are completely soft.
Mash lightly with a spoon and stir in the milk to make it creamy. It should be soft and loose, a little thicker than porridge.
For the , heat the ghee and fry the cashews until golden. Add the pepper, cumin, ginger, curry leaves and and sizzle for 30 seconds. Pour over the pongal and stir in. Serve hot.
Kitchen notes
Don't skimp on the ghee; pongal is meant to be rich, and the ghee carries the pepper flavour.
Pongal thickens quickly as it cools. Loosen with hot water or milk before serving.
Sweet pongal (sakkarai pongal) uses the same rice and dal cooked with jaggery, cardamom and ghee.
A dish and a festival
Pongal is also the name of Tamil Nadu’s harvest festival in mid-January, when the new season’s rice is boiled with milk until it froths over the pot, a sign of abundance. The festival dish is sweet, with jaggery. Ven pongal, the savoury white version, is eaten all year round, especially for breakfast in Tamil homes and temple kitchens.
Pepper and ghee
The flavour of ven pongal comes almost entirely from the final . Whole black peppercorns, lightly crushed, give little bursts of heat; ginger adds freshness; cumin and curry leaves add aroma; and cashews add crunch. All of it is carried by plenty of hot ghee.
Texture
Pongal should be soft and almost spoonable, closer to risotto than to a pulao. Roasting the moong dal first adds a nutty depth, and a splash of milk at the end makes it creamy. It firms up as it cools, so serve it hot.
Serving
Serve with coconut chutney, sambar and medu vada. For the Pakistani everyday cousin, see khichdi.
Questions people ask
Is pongal the same as khichdi?
They're close relatives. Both are rice and moong dal cooked soft, but pongal is creamier and seasoned with black pepper, ginger and curry leaves in lots of ghee.
What is pongal served with?
Coconut chutney and sambar, and often a crisp medu vada on the side.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 380
- Protein
- 11 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
