Khara Pongal (Spiced Lentil And Rice) is also known by the name ‘ven pongal’. This pongal is a nutritious and sumptuous south Indian breakfast made up of rice and lentil. Khara Pongal (Spiced Lentil And Rice) is mildly spiced with pepper and cumin.
This is similar to the ‘kichadi’ of north India. There are numerous ways to prepare this with each house having their own version of the dish, some prefer it mushy and slightly creamy in texture, some like to cooked well but not too mushy, others prefer it a little watery and some others, dry.
In a typical lavish breakfast spread when feeding the guests, along with idli and dosa, pongal or any upma is also served, the accompaniments include two to three varieties of chutneys, milagaipodi, sambar and of course one sweet dish too.
Coming back to the khara pongal or ven pongal, this is usually served with sambar, coconut chutney or kathrikkai gotsu (brinjal pachadi). Click here for Brinjal Gothsu.
Tips: Roasting the moong dal(pasi paruppu) before cooking it gives a nice aroma. Once the rice and dal is cooked, mash it slightly when it is hot.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 1 cup raw rice
- 1 cup moong dal yellow
- 1 - 1/2 tbsps ghee
- 8 black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp pepper cumin crushed -
- 5 to 6 cashewnuts
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- to taste salt
Ingredients
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- Roast the moong dal. Allow it to cool.
- Wash the rice and put this in a vessel, add the roasted dal to this. Add enough water to this.
- Add salt and the crushed pepper and cumin to the rice and dal.
- Cook it in a pressure cooker or in a pot.
- When the pressure in the cooker has come down, release the weight and remove the rice. Slightly mash it when hot itself. Keep aside. Check the taste and add salt if needed.
- In a small kadai, add the ghee, when the ghee is melted and hot, add the cashewnuts broken into smaller pieces, saute until it turns brown, remove and keep aside.
- In the same kadai (add more ghee if needed) add the cumin seeds and whole pepper and saute, finally add the curry leaves and pour it all over the rice-dal pongal.
- Next add the fried cashewnuts and give it a good mix.
- Serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney or serve it with brinjal gotsu.
We should always use White Ponni Raw Rice (pacharisi) for Venn Pongal.
Hey, thank you Eric for the tip