Ven Pongal always reminds me of my mama, who loved it only with chutney, sambar, and crispy vadai. My husband follows the same tradition, and now my son too. Looks like this comforting Pongal love runs in our genes.
Ven Pongal
Ven Pongal is a warm, comforting South Indian breakfast made from rice and moong dal, gently seasoned with ghee (nope, generously….., I meant the ghee part 🙂 cumin, pepper, ginger, and cashews. Soft and flavorful, it pairs perfectly with chutney, sambar, and of course to be served with a tumbler of filter kaapi.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Ponni raw rice (OR) Sona Masoori
- ½ cup Split Yellow Moong Dal
Seasoning
- 4 tbsp Ghee to roast rava
- 2 tsp Jeera (Cumin seeds)
- 1 tsp Whole Black Pepper
- 1 Green chili split in half
- 2 tbsp Minced Ginger
- 1-2 tsp Salt
- 6 – 7 cups Water
- 20 Cashews broken into smaller pieces
Instructions
Let's cook!!
- Wash rice and dal together till the water runs clear. Drain and keep it aside.
- Turn on Instant pot in Saute mode, heat half the ghee in it. When hot, add jeera, black pepper, green chilies, ginger, curry leaves and saute for a few seconds till you get an aroma of everything.
- Now add rice and dal to the Instant pot. Mix it well.
- Cancel Saute mode. Add salt and water and mix it well.
- Set up the Instant pot to 'Pressure – high' 'Time – 8 mins' and manually release the pressure after 20 mins.
- Rice and dal will be well cooked. Mix and mash it up. Taste test for salt and add a bit more if needed.
Now comes the best part….
- Heat the remaining ghee in a pan, add broken cashews and roast till golden and add it to the hot pongal and mix it well.
- Serve it hot with coconut chutney, sambar and/or vadai, but for sure with filter kaapi. Divine…..
💛 Lakshmi's Tips
- Add a little hot water to the pongal if you want it a bit more softer.
- Replace rice with millets and follow the same recipe but the water used should be a cup lesser than this or else it will be runny like Karnataka style 🙂
- I use only ghee for Pongal recipes because it gives an excellent flavor and I love ghee 🙂 You can also half oil if you are conscious.
Yummy Pongal