Another classic south Indian breakfast recipe is – Ven Pongal or Khara Pongal. This is a mildly spiced rice and moong dal combination that is served hot with any south Indian chutney and sambar.
Ven pongal is also a very traditional recipe in south India that is often prepared during festivals. My mother very regularly makes this for breakfast along with onion tomato gravy. As a kid, I never used to like ven pengal, I always used to find some excuse not to eat it. But now, I find this very tasty especially along with a dash of ghee.
This is simple and quick recipe, no fuss, no cutting and mixing. It is wonderful to pack as tiffin for your kids school. It has a wonderfully healthy combination of carbs with protein. You can always pair up some crunchy salad or fruits along with this to make it wholesome.
I recently shared my collection of 10 south Indian chutneys. You can check that link to pick any of your favorite chutney.
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Serves: 2 |
Cooking time: 20 mins |
Ingredients:
Raw Rice – 1 cup
Moong dal or green gram – 1/4 cup
Water – 4 to 5 cups
Pepper corns – 1 tsp
Jeera – 1 tsp
Ghee or Oil – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves – a few
Hing – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cashew nuts (optional) – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Procedure:
- Wash the rice and moong dal together. Drain and keep aside.
- In a small pan, heat the ghee/oil. Add the rest of the ingredients, except salt.
- Once the pepper corns splutter and the cashew nuts are brown, take of the heat and add to the rice-moong dal mixture.
- Add salt to this mixture.
- Add about 4 to 5 cups water to the rice and pressure cook till completely done. Might need about 6-7 whistles.
- If you are cooking on stovetop, add more water and cook till it becomes a coarse paste.
- Mix well and serve while hot !
Variations:
- Add the cashews after cooking if you want them to be crunchy.
- You can adjust the quantity of moong dal.
- Adjust the amount of peppercorns as per your taste.
- You can substitute pepper powder for peppercorns. If you do that, add the powder directly to the rice before cooking.
Ven pongal is best served with coconut chutney or onion-tomato curry (recipe here) and of course the classic south Indian sambar 🙂
