Pongal is one of the famous traditional South Indian special dish. Pong means “spill over”, that is how the dish named. There are two varieties of pongal, one is Sweet Pongal and another is Ven pongal.
Ven pongal is known as spicy pongal or hot pongal which is a common break fast recipe in south India, especially in Tamilnadu. It can be prepare in two ways. One can be made as a semi solid by mixing with milk which I called it as a hot pongal or spicy pongal and another one can be made like boiled fluffy rice with out adding any milk is a Ven pongal.
Let see how to make this fluffy Ven pongal recipe.
Ingredients:
- Moong dal – ¼ cup
- Rice – I cup
- Peppercorns – 1tbsp
- Pepper powder- 1/2tbsp
- Few curry leaves
- Green chillies – 3
- Ginger pieces – 1 tbsp(small)
- Oil – 2tbsp
- Cashew nuts – 1tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Red chillies – 2
- Water – 2 cups
How to cook Ven Pongal:
- Roast the moong dal until the raw smell has gone.
- Mix and wash the mung dal and rice.
- Soak them in fresh water and for 10 minutes.
- Make Tadka with the following ingredients one after another in oil or ghee.
- Mustard seeds-cashew nuts- peppercorns-red chillies-green chillies-ginger pieces-curry leaves and pepper powder.
- Add water and then salt to that tadka and let it be boil for few minutes.
- Add the above soaked mung dal and rice to it and cook.
- For pressure cooker 3 whistles and for 1 cup rice add 2 cups of water.
- For normal cooking after adding rice to the water, cook the rice on high flame with out any lid for 15 minutes and stir occasionally. Then cook for another 10 minutes with a lid on simmer.
The perfect combination or side dish for the Ven Pongal is Coconut chutney and Sambar