Ven Pongal, also known as Khara Pongal, is a simple and easy classic South Indian breakfast recipe made with rice & yellow moong lentils in ghee and a few Indian spices in an Instant Pot and stovetop pressure cooker.
Pongal is a hearty, spicy porridge-style dish to start your day on a healthy note and a perfect festive recipe & one pot healthy meal.
Pongal, Idli Vada combo is one of the most popular breakfast items you will find in any South Indian restaurant in India.
This Pongal is the South Indian version of moong dal khichdi. Also known as Khara Pongal (or Khara Huggi) in Karnataka and Pesara Pappu Pongal in Telugu. It's very light on the stomach and very easy to prepare. Pongal food is suitable and nutritious for infants and toddlers. Also, if you are looking for a healthier variation, try my Millet Pongal.
Today I am sharing the One-Pot Ven Pongal recipe, which I have prepared in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT. Traditionally rice and dal are first pressure-cooked, and then ghee tempering is poured over the cooked rice dal mixture and simmered for a few minutes.
Looking for more South Indian Rice Recipes, check Bisi Bele Bath, Ghee Rice, Lemon Rice, Menthya Bhat, Masala Puffed Rice, Vegetable Pulao.
What is Pongal?
Ven Pongal recipe is a spicy and savory version where rice and moong dal are cooked together and tempered with cumin, pepper, ginger, and ghee. There's also a sweet version of Pongal known as Sakkarai Pongal (Sweet Pongal) made with jaggery instead of spices.
Pongal (Festival)
Pongal festival is a multi-day harvest festival of South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, that marks the first day of the sun's return journey to the northern hemisphere, widely known as Makar Sankranti in India, typically celebrated on January 14.
This Instant Pot Ven Pongal
- is a healthy, nutritious, one-pot meal.
- done in under 20 minutes.
- Packed with protein.
- It is easy to digest, which makes it a great meal for the elderly and toddlers.
- Vegetarian, gluten-free and can be made vegan.
Ven Pongal Ingredients
- Yellow Moong Dal – Use skinless split yellow moong dal.
- Rice – I have used Sona masoori white rice but you can also use Seeraga samba rice, Kolam, Ponni for this recipe. Avoid using Basmati rice, brown rice for an authentic recipe.
- Black Pepper - Traditionally whole black peppercorns are used, I have used crushed black pepper since I don't like whole black pepper coming in every bite. Or simply use ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper.
- Spices & herbs - Do not skip any spices & herbs like cumin seeds, hing, ginger, curry leaves for this recipe. They enhance the flavor and make the dish yummy.
- Nuts – Use cashews. Skip it, if you have a nut allergy.
- Ghee – Adding a good quantity of ghee, enhances the taste & aroma of the dish. But if you are a vegan replace it with oil.
- Edible Camphor – You can add a pinch of Edible camphor (pacha karpoora) to get Temple style Ven Pongal taste. If it's not readily available, skip it.
I have shared instructions for making ven Pongal for Instant Pot and Stovetop pressure cooker below.
How to Make Ven Pongal in Instant Pot?
Press SAUTE (Normal) on Instant Pot. Add ghee (or oil) into the POT. Note: Tastes better with ghee
Once the pot is hot, add in the cumin seeds, black pepper, and cashew nuts. Saute for 30 secs or till cashew nuts turn golden brown.
Add the chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, and asafetida. Saute for another 30 secs.
Next, add the washed dal and rice. Saute for 1-2 minutes until dal turns light brown or aromatic.
Add water, salt. Mix well.
Close the lid on the pot, and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position.
Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 8 minutes.
Once the pot beeps, wait till the pressure releases naturally. Next, open the lid and mix everything well.
Note: If rice is not mushy, select saute mode, add 1 cup of water, and cook for 1-2 minutes or till mixture boils.
Instant Pot Pongal recipe is ready, serve with yogurt, raita, or tamarind chutney.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the washed dal, Saute well for 1-2 minutes till the dal turns light brown or aromatic. Then add rice.
- Add 4 cups of water, and mix well.
- Close the lid and put the whistle weight on. Cook for 3-4 whistles on medium flame and turn off the gas.
- Once the pressure has released, open the lid and mix the mixture well.
- Meanwhile, in a pan add the remaining ghee, once it's hot, add cumin (jeera), black pepper, and cashew nuts. Saute for 30 secs or till cashew nuts turn light brown in color.
- Add the chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, and asafetida. Saute for another 30 secs.
- Add this tempering into the cooked moong dal rice mixture and boil. Note: If rice is not mushy then add 1 cup of water and adjust consistency.
- Serve with chutney, sambar, raita, or tamarind chutney.
Serving Suggestions for Khara Pongal
Serve piping hot Pongal dish with spicy coconut chutney or sambar. You can also serve it with papad, raita, and pickle for a quick meal.
Tips
- Pongal tastes best when made fresh and eaten hot.
- Traditional Pongal recipe is made with small grain rice such as sona masuri or seeraga samba rice.
- Pongal thickens a little on cooling. You can save leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat in a microwave or on the stovetop (add hot water if required to adjust consistency) just before serving.
Variations
- The ratio of dal to rice is a personal preference. I have used equal amounts of dal and rice to include more protein in the diet. But you can reduce the dal as well.
- You can also add some vegetables like carrots, peas, and spinach to make this Pongal healthy.
- Adding ghee enriches the taste of Pongal but Vegans can skip ghee/clarified butter and replace it with any cooking oil.
- You can also use husked split moong dal, which makes this moong dal khichdi more healthy.
- Use the same recipe to make healthy pongal recipe with millets, quinoa, rava, oats.
Common Questions
Ghee Pongal and Ven Pongal are the same. It's just another name as it is cooked entirely in ghee.
Yes, It's healthy as it is prepared from rice and lentils and is light on the stomach. However, you can make it more nutritious by replacing rice with millets, quinoa, or oats.
Consistency of the Ven Pongal and Khichdi or Khichuṛi prepared in North India is similar but made with few variations like spices used and cooking methods to suit regional taste.
More South Indian Breakfast Recipes to check
Instant Pot Ven Pongal (Khara Pongal)
Ingredients
Measuring Cup used [1 cup = 250 ml]
- 2-3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) (Vegans can replace ghee with oil)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
- 1 teaspoon black pepper corn (whole or crushed)
- 2 green chilies
- 1 teaspoon ginger finely chopped
- 1 stalk curry leaves
- 8-10 pinch cashew nuts optional
- 1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
- ¾ cup split yellow moong dal
- ¾ cup white rice short grain rice preferable (or quinoa, millets)
- 4 cups water + 1 cup extra to adjust consistency
- salt adjust to taste
Instructions
Instant Pot Method:
- Press SAUTE (Normal) on Instant Pot. Add ghee or oil in to the POT. Note: Tastes better with ghee
- Once the pot is hot, add in the cumin seeds, black pepper, and cashew nuts. Saute for 30 secs or till cashew nuts turn golden brown.
- Add the chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, and asafetida. Saute for another 30 secs.
- Next, add the washed dal and rice. Saute for 1-2 minutes until dal turns light brown or aromatic.
- Add water, salt. Mix well.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, wait till the pressure releases naturally. Next, open the lid and mix everything well.Note: If rice is not mushy, select saute mode, add 1 cup of water, and cook for 1-2 minutes or till mixture boils.
- Pongal is ready, serve with yogurt, raita or tamarind chutney.
Indian Pressure Cooker Method:
- Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a pressure cooker and add the washed dal, Saute well 1-2 minutes till dal turns light brown or till aromatic. Then add rice.
- Add 4 cups of water, mix well.
- Close the lid and put the whistle weight on. Cook for 3-4 whistles on medium flame and turn off the gas.
- Once the pressure has released, open the lid and mix the mixture well.
- Meanwhile in a pan add the remaining ghee, once it's hot add cumin (jeera), black pepper, cashew nuts. Saute for 30 secs or till cashew nuts turn light brown in color.
- Add the chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, and asafetida. Saute for another 30 secs.
- Add this tempering into the cooked moong dal rice mixture and boil. Note: If rice is not mushy then add 1 cup of water and adjust consistency.
- Serve with chutney, sambar, raita, or tamarind chutney.
Video
Notes
Tips
- Pongal tastes best when made fresh and eaten hot.
- The traditional Pongal recipe is made with small grain rice such as sona masuri or seeraga samba rice.
- Pongal thickens a little on cooling. You can save leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat in a microwave or on the stovetop (add hot water if required to adjust consistency) just before serving.
Variations
- The ratio of dal to rice is a personal preference. I have used equal amounts of dal and rice to include more protein into the diet. But you can reduce the dal as well.
- You can also add some vegetables like carrots, peas, spinach to make this Pongal healthy.
- Adding ghee enriches the taste of pongal but Vegans can skip ghee/clarified butter and replace it with any cooking oil.
- You can also use husked split moong dal, makes this moong dal khichdi more healthy.
- Use the same recipe to make healthy pongal recipe with millets, quinoa, rava, oats.
Nutrition
Other Recipe Collections to Try from my blog
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Anonymous says
Tried it came out awsome
bhavana says
Thank you
AK says
Great recipe and easy to follow. Thank you.
bhavana says
Thank you
Ishi says
awesome and easy recipe. I tried it with white quinoa and it’s as tasty as like with white rice.
This will be my go to recipe from now on!
Bhavana Patil says
Hey Ishi, glad to know the recipe turned out great with Quinoa. I also follow this recipe for making pongal with millets.
Anonymous says
easy and came out delicious!
bhavana says
thank you for trying the recipe and letting me know
Dr.S.Radhakrishna says
It works well. I added a bit of turmeric 3/4 of a spoon to give it some colour!
great simple recipe for weekend mornings in England when family wake up late. I am up early(old bad habit) and make it so everyone can have a healthy breakfast! love instant pot!!
bhavana says
Thanks for sharing your feedback Dr. S. Radhakrishna 🙂 I am glad you loved it 🙂
Anonymous says
nice