Pongal Recipe – Ven Pongal – Brown Rice Pongal

Pongal Recipe – Ven Pongal – Brown Rice Pongal – Khara Pongal –

Pongal the ceremonial first dish of the Tamizh harvest festival will make a chronic insomniac sleep like a Koala. Every household makes their own version of pongal. There are thousands of recipes out there, each claiming to be comforting and soothing in their own right. So, what makes our pongal recipe any different, you might ask? We will not sell it to you by quoting the same old “It is healthy and wholesome”, along with the standard blah blahs. We both are ardent and hardened pongal fans. We happily eat this dish at any time of the day. Over the years we have tasted countless versions of pongal through the length and breadth of Tamizhnadu and we have cooked many styles of our own. This pongal recipe of ours, is not a flash in the pan or a recipe that we winged on the go. We took a while to perfect it and here we are with our very own tribute to our love and passion for pongal. Better this if you can. That is without killing the nativity and essence of the original.

A great pongal must be soft and gooey, yet should have the consistency to hold its shape. Slap a ladle full of ven pongal onto a plate. With the ladle’s belly carve a crater on top, fill it with coconut chutney or sambar. For us, there is absolutely nothing better than this. Wait! there is dosa. No! not really, Pongal still dominates.

Our pongal recipe will yield 4 servings, with 471 kilocalories in each. To follow our ven pongal recipe, you will need the ingredients listed below.

Ingredients, Measurements & Nutritional Values

To Prep & Pressure Cook
Brown rice	150 grams
Mung dal (Mung bean)	150 grams
Water	950 ml
Everything Else
Ghee	10 grams
Black peppercorns	1 tablespoon
Green chillies	1-2
Ginger	14 grams
Curry leaves	A sprig
Asafoetida	A pinch
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Copra (Dried coconut)	40 grams
Salt	To taste
For Garnish
Ghee	10 grams
Cashew nuts	60 grams

Click on the nutritional chart below to zoom

Video Walk Through – Pongal Recipe – Ven Pongal – Brown Rice Pongal – Khara Pongal

Instructions – Pongal Recipe – Ven Pongal – Brown Rice Pongal – Khara Pongal

Prep & Pressure Cook

1. Set a pan on medium heat.
2. Add equal quantities of brown rice and mung dal. Toast for two minutes. Pay close attention so that they are not burnt.
3. Transfer the toasted brown rice and mung dal to a bowl. Wash and sort thoroughly.
4. Transfer the washed brown rice and mung dal to a pressure cooker.
5. Add 950 ml of water. Liquid should usually be three times the quantity of solids.
6. Pressure cook for 15 minutes on medium heat and allow the pressure to release naturally.

Prep Garnish

1. Set a pan on medium heat.
2. Add ghee and allow it to melt.
3. Add cashew nuts. Toast them for a minute or two and set aside.

Make Pongal

1. Set a pot on medium heat.
2. Add ghee and allow it to melt.
3. Add black peppercorns, slit green chillies, cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, finely chopped ginger and grated copra (Dried coconut meat). Saute for two minutes. (Note: You can add the cumin seeds here or later. That is 5 minutes before you  turn off the heat.)
4. Add the pressure cooked stuff and salt to your taste. Mix well, cover and  reduce on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes most of the moisture would be absorbed by the grains and the pongal would reduce to a very thick consistency. Turn off the heat, add the toasted cashew nuts and mix them in gently.

Serve hot with sambar or chutney.

Ven Pongal – Brown Rice Pongal – Khara Pongal, another healthy recipe, the hissing cooker way.