South Indian
Ven Pongal (Tamil Nadu Savory Rice and Moong Dal)
Ven Pongal (Tamil Nadu Savory Rice and Moong Dal) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 1/3 cup yellow moong dal (split, husked)
- 5 cups water
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 1.5 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
- 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 15 curry leaves
- 3 tbsp cashews
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Dry roast the moong dal in a pan until lightly golden and fragrant, then rinse it together with the rice.
- Pressure cook the rice and dal with the water and salt until soft and mushy, about 4 whistles, then mash lightly with the back of a ladle.
- Heat the ghee in a small pan and fry the cashews until golden, then add the cumin, crushed pepper, ginger, and curry leaves and let them sizzle.
- Pour the tempering over the mashed rice and dal and stir to combine, loosening with a splash of hot water if it looks too thick.
- Serve the pongal hot, with extra ghee spooned over the top.
Serve it with
A South Indian breakfast is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Ven Pongal (Tamil Nadu Savory Rice and Moong Dal), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The sharp little thing
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Ven Pongal (Tamil Nadu Savory Rice and Moong Dal) carries tree nuts and dairy. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Dairy | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Hearty
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Grains, Pulses, Dairy, and Nuts and seeds
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Ven Pongal (Tamil Nadu Savory Rice and Moong Dal) takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at breakfast. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish. It also turns up at Pongal.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on rice, moong dal, and ghee.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.