Khara pongal recipe, hotel style ghee pongal

Khara pongal made in restaurant/ hotel style with whole black pepper, cumin, green chilli, ginger and cashew nuts. Flavored with asafoetida and curry leaves. One pot pongal.

Khara pongal is made in rice and lentils (raw rice, yellow moong dal) for breakfast.

Also check out my other ven pongal recipe in my website and millet pongal recipe for healthier choice.

Mom makes pongal this way only from the day I know but sans turmeric. I love both ven pongal and this version of pongal made with turmeric.

Most of the hotels serve this type of pongal. That is they cook pepper, cumin and all together with rice, dal.

In hotels and some households, they add half oil too, which makes the pongal retain the texture and gives a unique flavor that I like.

But usually in our family, elders call it cheap to add vanaspati or oil and shout if the one adulterate the ghee pongal with oil or vanaspati.

Somehow I love the flavor a lot when they use oil or vanaspati and I don't see it as a prestige issue/ or being stingy with ghee.

My notes

In pongal, the texture is so important which I always struggle to get it right.

I keep wondering why my pongal turn out dry instead of the moist juicy pongal.

Then realized if dal is added more and not enough water, it turns out dry so we have to add loads of water as needed.

The rice also plays a main role, new rice variety doesn’t require much water while aged rice will take up more water.

So to troubleshoot, always keep a cup of boiling water ready when you open the cooker and you can easily fix a dry pongal. Don't forget to check for salt too.

Related posts

• Pongal gotsu
• Tiffin sambar
• Coconut chutney
• Oats pongal

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5 from 2 votes

Khara pongal recipe

Khara pongal or ghee pongal made in restaurant/ hotel style with whole black pepper, cumin, green chilli, ginger and cashew nuts.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

1x2x3x

Equipments (Amazon Affiliate links)

• pressure cooker

Cup measurements

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Raw rice I used sona masuri
• ¼ cup Moong dal
• 4 cups Water refer notes
• ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
• Salt

To temper

• 2 tablespoon Ghee
• 1 teaspoon Black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds heaped
• 1 tablespoon Ginger finely chopped
• 2 Green chilli
• 8 Cashew nuts
• ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida
• 1 sprig Curry leaves

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Instructions

• Heat a pressure cooker with ghee.
  2 tablespoon Ghee
• Pop black pepper and in low flame, add cumin, cashew nuts, green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, asafoetida in order.
  1 teaspoon Black pepper, 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon Ginger, 2 Green chilli, 8 Cashew nuts, ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida, 1 sprig Curry leaves
• Roast well. Add washed rice and dal and roast for a minute.
  ¾ cup Raw rice, ¼ cup Moong dal
• Pour water, then add salt and turmeric.
  ¼ teaspoon Turmeric, Salt, 4 cups Water
• Bring to boil. Close the lid and pressure cook for just 1 whistle in medium flame.
• Let the pressure release by itself and open the cooker immediately to mash it well.

Video

Notes

• Keep a cup of hot water ready while you open the cooker in case you need to loosen up. But first make sure to mash the pongal when its hot.
• You can add ghee and vanaspati or oil equally.
• Adding ginger, cashew nuts add a good flavour along with asafoetida

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Stepwise photos

1. Heat a pressure cooker with ghee. Pop black pepper and in low flame, add cumin, cashew nuts, green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, asafoetida in order.

2. Roast well. Add washed rice and dal and roast for a minute.

3. Add water, salt and turmeric.

4. Bring to boil. Close the lid and pressure cook for just 1 whistle in medium flame.

5. Let the pressure release by itself and open the cooker immediately to mash it well.

Top with more ghee topped over the pongal. Serve hot with chutney and sambar.