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Recipe · Breakfast · Tamil Nadu

Ven Pongal: Soft Rice and Moong Dal with Pepper and Ghee

Rice and moong dal cooked creamy, finished with ghee, black pepper, cumin, ginger and cashews. The Tamil breakfast that fills you till lunch.

Our kitchenUpdated
Prep10 min
Cook30 min
Makes3 servings
Jump to recipe
Ven pongal with pepper and cashews, chutney and sambar on a banana leaf
In this recipe3 parts
  1. Ingredients and steps
  2. The ratio for creamy pongal
  3. Questions people ask

Quick answer

Cook ½ cup rice and ¼ cup roasted moong dal in 3 cups water with salt until creamy, then pour over a tempering of ghee, whole pepper, cumin, ginger, curry leaves and cashews.

Ingredients and steps

3 servings

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Ingredients

  • In the shop
  • In the shop
  • In the shop
  • Tempering
  • In the shop
  • In the shop
  • In the shop
  • In the shop
  • In the shop
  • On our shelves
  • In the shop

You need

Pressure cooker or a potSmall tempering pan

Steps

  1. Roast the dal

    Dry-roast the moong dal on a low flame until it smells nutty, about 3 minutes.

  2. Cook

    Wash the rice and dal. Cook with the water and salt until soft and creamy: 4 to 5 whistles in a pressure cooker, or about 25 minutes in a pot, stirring now and then.

  3. Mash

    Mash lightly with the back of a ladle. Add a little hot water if it is too thick; it thickens as it cools.

  4. Temper

    Heat the ghee. Fry the cashews until golden, then add pepper, cumin, ginger, curry leaves and asafoetida for a few seconds.

  5. Finish

    Pour the tempering over the pongal, mix and serve hot.

Shop tip: Crush the pepper lightly with a rolling pin instead of grinding it. Whole and half pieces give the warm bite ven pongal is known for, without making it too hot.

340kcal
9 gprotein
45 gcarbs
15 gfat
2 gfibre

Per serving, an estimate. It does not change with the servings.

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The ratio for creamy pongal

2 : 1rice to moong dal
1 : 4rice and dal to water
3 tbspghee in the tempering

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Questions people ask

Why is my ven pongal dry?
Too little water, or it cooled down. Use 3 cups water for ½ cup rice and ¼ cup dal, and add hot water before serving if it has set.
What goes with ven pongal?
Coconut chutney and sambar are the classic pair. Some homes also serve it with gothsu, a tangy brinjal curry.
Can I use more dal?
Yes. Equal rice and dal gives a softer, more protein-rich pongal; add a little more water.