Ven Pongal

INGREDIENTS 

For Ven Pongal Recipe:

• 1 cup Short grain rice (sona masoori)
• 1/3 cup Yellow moong dal (split and skinless)
• Salt to taste
• 4 1/2 cups Water

For tempering:

• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon Black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon Oil
• 3 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
• 5-6 Cashew nuts halved
• 8-10 Curry leaves
• 2 teaspoons Ginger finely chopped or minced
• ¼ teaspoon Hing (Asafoetida)

INSTRUCTIONS 

Preparation:

1. Dry roast the moong dal on medium-low heat till it becomes fragrant and it gets slight color change. Remove it to a bowl.
2. Similarly dry roast the rice. Here we are not looking for color change.
3. Remove the rice to the same bowl and let it cool down to touch.
4. Then wash or rinse them using water till water becomes clear and no more cloudy.

Making ven pongal:

1. Take washed dal, rice, salt and water in a pressure cooker.
2. Cover and cook for 4-5 whistles on medium heat.
3. Once the pressure goes down, open the lid and mix the pongal really well. It should be mushy and porridge-like loose consistency.
4. Take cumin seeds and peppercorns in mortar and pestle. Coarsely crush them and keep it aside.
5. To make the tempering, heat the oil and ghee in a small pan on medium heat.
6. Once hot add cashews and fry till light golden.
7. Add curry leaves, ginger, hing, and cumin-pepper powder.
8. Immediately add this tadka to the pongal and mix.
9. Serve piping hot or warm.

NOTES

1. Roasting rice is optional.
2. Do not reduce the amount of ghee. It is the key ingredient to get the right flavor and texture.
3. Dal and rice ratio is adjustable.

How to make pongal in instant pot?

1. You will need 4 cups of water for the above dal-rice amount.
2. Instead of a stovetop pressure cooker, cook dal-rice in instant pot.
3. Cook on manual (high pressure) for 10 minutes. Let it naturally release the pressure.
4. Make tempering on the stove top as mentioned above.
5. Second method: Make the tempering in instant pot on saute mode. Then add dal-rice, water and turn off the saute mode. Cook on manual for 10 minutes.