Ven pongal is a very easy and comfort food. Mostly in weekend mornings I make it to laze around. In contrast to Vj, Aj won’t even touch this one. I make it only with chutney if I want to make it simple. But brinjal or any sort of gothsu will be great side dish for pongal. Even tiffin sambar will be great accompaniment. But I love it both with sambar and chutney together. Having said pongal is easy job at kitchen, its tricky too to get the right consistency. I have struggled a lot to get it right. Now for only us I make it perfect, but if I need to make for more people, I am not still that confident to make it. Sometimes the pongal becomes so dry or so watery. But I have some trouble shooting ideas now if I run into trouble. Will add as notes in the bottom. A reader asked me to share the recipe and here you go Jaishree…
Check out the side dish that goes well with pongal from Rak’s kitchen :
Easy Pongal gothsu
Coconut chutney
Tiffin sambar with moong dal
Tiffin sambar with toor dal
Ven pongal recipe
Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves: 4
Ingredients
Moong dal/pasi paruppu – 1/4 cup
Water – 4 cups
Salt – as needed
Ginger chopped – 1 tblsp
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
To temper
Pepper – 2 tsp
Jeera – 2 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida – 2 pinches
Cashews – 6
Method
- An optional step is to roast the moong dal for extra flavour. Wash rice and dal together. Heat a small cooker with a tsp of ghee. Fry ginger and asafoetida for few seconds.
- Add 4 cups of water,bring to boil. Add the washed rice,dal,salt and pressure cook for 4 whistles in medium flame.Wait until pressure gets released by itself,open & mash.
- Season with the items given under to temper table. First add ghee, when hot add pepper and let it start splutter and then switch off the flame. Add cashews and fry till it starts golden and then lastly add jeera. Add curry leaves and asafoetida lastly. Mix in the heat well and then add it to pongal and mix well.
Notes
- If the pongal is watery when you open, then you can try keeping it again in stove and mix well until water evaporates.(only if the rice has got cooked,otherwise you can again give 2 whistles). For the given measurement, the recipe will be perfect, but still saying these for emergency/trouble shooting.
- If it is too dry/thick then add some milk to bring it to desired consistency. Again, the rice should have got cooked properly.
- Make sure you dont burn jeera while frying, as it changes the whole taste of pongal.
- If you want/like pepper flavour, you can add 2 tsps of pepper coarse powder to the pongal lastly while mixing. It gives a great flavour and turns more spicy.
- If you want, you can temper first, then add ginger and washed rice, add water and cook too. Not that the tempering has to be done at the end.
- You can add turmeric 1/8 tsp for an ‘yellow looking” pongal.
- One of my maamis use dalda 50% for making pongal and it tastes great, but its not advisable for health.
Serve it super hot with gothsu or chutney as an accompaniment. I made gothsu with potato and carrot the other day and ginger chutney.
Sending this picture I clicked while making pongal for Black and white Wednesday hosted by Siri this time.
Suparna
May 7, 2012 at 11:32 amhey raji,
yummy pongal…the dollop of ghee does wonders to the taste!! lovely clicks
Prathibha
May 7, 2012 at 11:34 amVery delicious Pongal..one of my most favorite brkfast when I paired wid sambar..love it 2 d core
Divya Kudua
May 7, 2012 at 11:47 amPongal is one of my favorite breakfast items too,but I seldom make it at home.Reason being,I like it with vada,sambhar and chutney.To make it from scratch is not something i look forward to:).Love the last pic,makes me want to reach out to my pressure cooker for making pongal:)
Priya
May 7, 2012 at 11:55 amPongal with vada and sambar,i can have it anytime..
S.Menaga
May 7, 2012 at 11:59 amOne of my fav Bf recipe,looks very tempting!!mmm Vadai is missing…
Satya
May 7, 2012 at 12:03 pmpongal looks awesome n ur clicks too
Super Yummy Recipes
jeyashrisuresh
May 7, 2012 at 12:18 pmMy son and suresh loves pongal a lot. Nicely done and loved all the clicks ESP the black and white. Very useful tips
Shanthi
May 7, 2012 at 12:44 pmNice and comfort food
Sharmilee! :)
May 7, 2012 at 12:51 pmGhee melting ven pongal…cant say to this anytime. Looks very tempting!
Sharmilee! :)
May 7, 2012 at 12:54 pmGhee melting ven pongal…cant say no to this anytime. Looks very tempting!
Goddess
May 7, 2012 at 12:56 pmI can smell your ven pongal…. the ghee oozing out from the pongal is making me hungry ;(
Cilantro
May 7, 2012 at 12:58 pmIts morning here and you tempt me with all this pics, I could relish only if someone made for me. Looks delicious Raks!
Spice up the Curry
May 7, 2012 at 1:00 pmlooks so delicious. my mouth is watering now
Anu
May 7, 2012 at 1:00 pmGhee pongal looks tempting,Nice clicks.
Anonymous
May 7, 2012 at 1:09 pmHi Raji, I've had pongal only at friend's homes and restaurants so far and I can't wait to recreate it in my kitchen with your recipe.
Is there a specific variety of rice you use for pongal?
PS: The whistling pressure cooker picture is awesome.
Hema
May 7, 2012 at 1:18 pmEverybody loves this, but however I make it can never match the one that we get in our temples, yours looks very good..
Aarthi
May 7, 2012 at 1:28 pmpongal looks so mouthwatering
Ambika
May 7, 2012 at 1:35 pmThis is one of my all time favorite breakfasts!! Wish I had that plate in front of me now, its breakfast time here!
Sudha Sabarish
May 7, 2012 at 2:01 pmPongal looks yummy and perfect for weekend morning when we're lazy.
Vandana Rajesh
May 7, 2012 at 2:28 pmPongal looks really yummy..so mouthwatering.
RAKS KITCHEN
May 7, 2012 at 2:32 pmSteamingpot.com: I used sona masoori rice… Thanks for your appreciation!
Raji
May 7, 2012 at 2:50 pmAwesome Raji! My fav breakfast combo is ven pongal with kattrikay gothsu, and your pictures are tempting enough to make me rush to kitchen asap.
Aruna Manikandan
May 7, 2012 at 3:23 pmpongal looks delicious raji 🙂
M D
May 7, 2012 at 5:16 pmPongal looks delicious. Love that cooker pic. Beautiful in black and white 🙂
Jayasri Ravi
May 7, 2012 at 5:17 pmBeautiful clicks as always, just made it yesterday, love it for Bkfast., Pongal, vada Sambhar and chutney what else do you need 🙂
Suja Manoj
May 7, 2012 at 6:43 pmLovely clicks,healthy and yum pongal..
Sangeetha
May 7, 2012 at 8:06 pmThis comment has been removed by the author.
Sangeetha
May 7, 2012 at 8:07 pmwow…perfect ven pongal…looks more tempting…lovely clicks too!!
Spicy Treats
Devi
May 7, 2012 at 11:10 pmYummy ven pongal!! reminds me of kovils back in home town/country… hmmm.. Like the tamizh water mark too :))
sowmya's creative saga
May 8, 2012 at 3:05 amlove it..looks so yumm
Gayathri NG
May 8, 2012 at 3:34 amMashy n yummy pongal, making me hungey dear…Perfectly done and luv the texture…
Shabitha Karthikeyan
May 8, 2012 at 3:43 amGorgeous looking pongal. Lovely clicks. Somehow not able to view the B&W picture !!
Vardhini
May 8, 2012 at 4:27 amInviting pongal. Gorgeous click.
Vardhini
CooksJoy
Sangeetha Nambi
May 8, 2012 at 5:01 amPerfect and droolingggggggg…….
Chitra
May 8, 2012 at 5:04 amLovely clicks.Very bright :)A dish that is loved by all in our family 🙂
Nagashree
May 8, 2012 at 5:25 amSuch a comfort food, I can eat hot pongal any day.
Kaveri Venkatesh
May 8, 2012 at 9:07 amPongal and chutney is a hot family favorite…Super click
Premalatha Aravindhan
May 8, 2012 at 9:49 amwow yummy pongal and perfectly made it…love the pics.
Shobha Kamath
May 8, 2012 at 10:24 amLovely looking Pongal! Love the pics too!
Pavithra Elangovan
May 8, 2012 at 12:00 pmAll time favorite with lovely picts Raji 🙂
Laavanya
May 8, 2012 at 12:37 pmMy husband doesn't like gooey ven pongal so i make a drier version but this looks just heavenly and that picture of the cooker is awesome!
Shama Nagarajan
May 8, 2012 at 4:09 pmits so tempting dear…raji,, i have a happy news for u . My friend's wife, who got recently married , is learning to cook recipes from your blog, she loves your blog . When i met her yesterday in london , she said about your blog and felt very happy , when i told her that you are my friend through blogging . She conveyed her wishes to you and saw your profile in FB .
Sonali Pradhan
May 8, 2012 at 9:12 pmdelicious recipe dear….wonderful presentation n gorgeous clicks !!!!!!!
http://www.onlyfishrecipes.com/
Jay
May 9, 2012 at 12:55 amcould smell the tempting aroma here..irresistable cliks..;)
Tasty Appetite
Arch
May 9, 2012 at 2:08 amIt is evil to make me see this after a kaya toast breakfast 🙁 That pressure cooker shot is actually hot. Quite literally. Superb!
Arch
May 9, 2012 at 2:08 amThis comment has been removed by the author.
RadhaKutty
May 9, 2012 at 11:26 amHi Raji Superb hot Shot nice texture 🙂 keep it up . Have u tried with Rava it's really yummy try and tell me .
Shri
May 9, 2012 at 11:29 amLoved the black and white snapshot! Ven Pongla looks delicious!
dassana
May 9, 2012 at 7:17 pmthe venpongal looks so good. i have only had pongal a couple of times. never made them at home. am going to give this recipe a try.
Recipeswap
May 10, 2012 at 1:54 amLooks so good, perfect for anytime of the day.
Nagalakshmi V
May 10, 2012 at 7:45 amlove your b&w pic too. lovely mood!
Richa
May 10, 2012 at 9:36 pmLove the black and white capture.. gorgeous!
Please do drop by the fundraiser on my blog, if you have a minute, to bid, or share. I am raising funds through auction of fun goodies donated by fellow bloggers for an amazing vegan non profit in India! Thanks a bunch! http://hobbyandmore.blogspot.com/p/fundraiser-for-vspca.html
faseela
May 10, 2012 at 11:47 pmyummy pongal…………..
Jingalala
May 11, 2012 at 12:50 pmI'm just checking the b&w picture, it did not display last time when i visited this page. The picture is too too too too too goood…..
Deeps @ Naughty Curry
May 11, 2012 at 5:43 pmfirst of all, that b&w pic of the pressure cooker is incredible… love it.the pongal looks perfect!
RAKS KITCHEN
July 19, 2012 at 2:02 amThis is salt and mild spiced with pepper….
Ravi Kiran
September 25, 2012 at 11:47 pmhi raji
is der any specific sidedish (kozhambu) for pongal? thenga chutney is gud…….but i want its perfect hotel look. (sambar)
RAKS KITCHEN
September 25, 2012 at 11:48 pmTry this tiffin sambar… http://www.rakskitchen.net/2011/02/tiffin-sambar-with-moong-dal.html
suvarna
December 6, 2012 at 5:14 amactually i dont know how to prepare hot pongal iam from andhra pradesh i tasted once one hotel, today i want to prepare hot pongal it's very easy and healthy light food. i like kerala foods
Archana Joyce
January 14, 2013 at 5:11 amI'm going to try making this today. Is there a particular type of rice I need? Like basmati or…
RAKS KITCHEN
January 14, 2013 at 5:13 amYes, raw rice (not parboiled rice) works great for this. Look for 'Sona masoori' rice. Basmati also will be nice for it. Follow the same measurement.
indu
January 15, 2013 at 8:44 amthanks.. it s nice…………
Saravana TK
February 10, 2013 at 2:43 amI made pongal for today's Breakfast. I came out amazing. The aroma of the pongal when I opened the cooker was great. The taste was also excellent. Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
Saravana TK
February 10, 2013 at 2:43 amI cooked it for today's breakfast. It came out excellent. Them aroma of the pongal when I opened the cooker was amazing. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Aarasu Mano
February 10, 2013 at 4:13 pmits orginated from TaMIL nadu
its not kerala food
Sandhya
May 4, 2013 at 12:50 pmRaks I must say you are absolutely brilliant chef.. Love your cooking steps and pictures.. You inspire everyone to cook and that counts as a blessing for you.. Pressure cooked my pongal. Cant wait to open it 🙂
Anonymous
May 14, 2013 at 11:18 amHi Raji. Pongal came out great. Please also post the gothsu recipe with potato. Thanks.
Meeeeee
November 13, 2013 at 9:32 amI have tried this recipe several times.. It always turns out great 🙂
Viji
November 29, 2013 at 1:24 pmHello Raji,
Made ven pongal today…Followed exactly what you have mentioned..same measurements…Pongal was cooked properly and it was gooey…But after it cools down it was dry and I dont get the glossy look like ur pongal…Where did i went wrong? I need to make like urs with ghee oozing out from it…Can u help me to get the right consistency?
Srividya Narasimhan
January 14, 2014 at 11:35 pmHi , am new user and I am following regularly !
Must say all the recipes are coming out good.
But I dont have a cooker, can I make this pongal in electric cooker ??
Pls reply asap
Raks anand
January 14, 2014 at 11:37 pmAfter cools down if dry, reheat and add more ghee. Probably ghee or water less. Since different rice needs different water quantity.
Raks anand
January 14, 2014 at 11:38 pmElectric cooker makes the pongal dry and wont be moist. But sure you can try.
கௌரி விமலேந்திரன்
February 7, 2014 at 12:19 amvery nice. and thank you so much.
கௌரி விமலேந்திரன்
February 7, 2014 at 12:19 amThank you so much.
UMACHANDRA55
May 3, 2014 at 4:26 amHi Raji, I never ventured to prepare Venpongal as i was not confident with my preparation on all these days. But you have changed my story different with your receipe, It was very nice n delicious, thanks a lot. Chandra
thefinickyforeigner
May 26, 2014 at 3:11 pmTried this today and it was fabulous. Thanks a ton!
Anonymous
July 19, 2014 at 10:20 amvery yummy
sudhakar veerabathiran
August 30, 2014 at 1:56 pmAwesome Pongal…
Abhilash Pillai
October 2, 2014 at 3:23 pmSuperr!!! we prepared this today using your recipe and it turned to be good. Thanks for sharing it.
sprabhagaran
August 14, 2015 at 4:11 amI tried this version of Pongal now. Awesome it is!!! Pictures are really tempting. Please keep sharing…
priya bhaskar
September 11, 2015 at 12:19 amexcellent recipe, I followed it verbatim and got great results, great aroma
/E$|-|@|_ !
September 12, 2015 at 9:48 amPerfect!!!!!
No other words….
Luv it like anything.. taste was too good..
My family also liked it alot..
Credit goes to youu and thanks fr d good receipe raks..
Reggae R
November 29, 2015 at 9:03 amThank you very much for this recipe. It was my first time making pongal and it was super yummy. A big hit with my hubby.
suresh B
December 30, 2015 at 1:57 amIt's a very delicious recipe and especially the way you mentioned the right measurements.
Dp :-)
January 16, 2016 at 8:59 amFollowed your recipe and pongal tasted wonderful! thanks Raks
Shanmuga Priya
January 23, 2016 at 12:29 pmTried this today for breakfast with same procedure n same measurement you have given. Delicious pongal. Got compliments from hubby.
Mrs Hattie
March 1, 2016 at 12:36 pmHai… Good morning. Thanks for making my day. Did the same exact recepie and it tasted awsme…
dhvya Dhv
March 1, 2016 at 12:36 pmHai… Good morning. Thanks for making my day. Did the same exact recepie and it tasted awsme…
Prabakaran Shankar
January 5, 2017 at 1:38 pmThank you..Good explanation.
Sathia M
January 13, 2017 at 12:24 amA newbie for ven ponggal having ate them twice at different time of the day. Tried your ven ponggal and it was yummy, pairing with katrikai gothsu, strong coffee and chilly foggy day. Thanks
Raks anand
January 13, 2017 at 12:30 amThanks 🙂 Awesome combination!
Unknown
May 25, 2017 at 9:38 amHi… I hate pongal basically. But my husband likes pongal alot. so simply tried with your recipes idea..
Finally omg .. ultimate outcome .. fantabulous taste … Made me to get addict on pongal��..
Many thanks for your pongal recipes..
Anonymous
July 7, 2017 at 10:34 amI absolutely loves ve your recipe. I have been referred your site for 2 years. In Ramadan, after making portal I make it watery and add few extra spices to make ganji (porridge generally eaten while braking the fast) It has been big hit. Keep sharing.
Lavanya Raja
March 13, 2018 at 5:19 pmYummy one