Pongal – A South-Indian Pressure Cooker Recipe (Gluten Free)

Pongal with roasted chickpea coconut chutney and puliyinji

Years ago, while we were staying at Thalassery, one of our neighbors was an old couple living in their ancestral home. Adjacent to our property with a five-foot laterite wall in between, we would spend some time every day talking across the wall. As the lady was having cardiac trouble and her husband had a partial renal failure, they found it hard to cook for themselves. So often, they would find me calling out to them over the wall with hot parcels of some of our food. Rarely, however, when the old lady would be feeling healthier, she would cook some delicious Tamilian dishes. On a lazy Sunday morning, I would wake up to hear her calling me loudly over the wall. Being settled at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu for decades, she was proficient in Tamil cooking. A dish of fragrant pongal and chutney in my hands, off I would go to our table and we would happily tuck in.

My husband and children just love pongal and chutney, so I make it more or less every week for them. Pongal is made with rice and dal (lentils), the rice supplying the carbohydrates, and the dal the protein. The coconut and chickpea dal chutney serves only to enhance the delightful taste and nutrition of pongal, sometimes called ven-pongal or thai-pongal. Here is the recipe for you. Do cook and enjoy this delicious, healthy, filling and easily digested dish.

Print Recipe

Pongal Yum

A delicious, well-balanced, filling, nutritious Tamil breakfast dish for everyone.

Course

Main Course

Cuisine

Indian, Tamilian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

25 minutes

Passive Time

15 minutes

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 400 gm B.T. rice (Bombay Terminus rice or aged raw rice, see note 1)
• 100 gm split green gram lentils (mung bean lentils / moog dal)
• 3 gm cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 gm black peppercorns
• 10 gm ginger
• 10 gm hot green chilies
• 2 gm dry hot red chilies
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 gm mustard seeds
• 15 ml coconut oil
• 15 ml ghee (clarified butter) (vegans see note 2)
• 50 gm grated coconut
• 150 gm onions (peeled) (or shallots)
• 15 gm salt
• 1500 ml water

Course Main Course Cuisine Indian, Tamilian Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 25 minutes Passive Time 15 minutes Servings servings Ingredients 400 gm B.T. rice (Bombay Terminus rice or aged raw rice, see note 1) 100 gm split green gram lentils (mung bean lentils / moog dal) 3 gm cumin seeds (jeera) 2 gm black peppercorns 10 gm ginger 10 gm hot green chilies 2 gm dry hot red chilies 1 sprig curry leaves 2 gm mustard seeds 15 ml coconut oil 15 ml ghee (clarified butter) (vegans see note 2) 50 gm grated coconut 150 gm onions (peeled) (or shallots) 15 gm salt 1500 ml water

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Chop the ginger, the green chilies, the red chilies, the curry leaves and the onions (or shallots) together to superfine bits and set aside.
2. Wash the rice and the lentils together and drain.

To cook:

1. Set a 5-liter pressure cooker on high heat and pour in the coconut oil and the ghee (vegans see note 2). Throw in the mustard seeds.
2. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish spluttering, tip in the peppercorns.
3. No sooner than the peppercorns start to burst, tip in the cumin seeds. Quickly put in the chopped ingredients. Stir continuously for 5 minutes.
4. Now tip in the rice and the lentils. Pour in the water and throw in the salt.
5. Close the lid with a weight on. As soon as you hear the first whistle, lower the heat and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
6. Switch off the heat. Let the cooker cool naturally. This will give the pongal enough time to cook to perfection.
7. Once the steam has subsided naturally, open the lid and tip in the grated coconut. Stir to mix thoroughly.
8. Serve hot with roasted chickpea coconut chutney and enjoy! Ghee lovers can pour one more spoonful of ghee over each serving. Gourmets can pour hot sambar over pongal and crumble freshly deep-fried papads too.

Recipe Notes

1. You can also use aged, fragrant, short grained rice in place of B.T. rice to make it even more aromatic.
2. Vegans, please avoid the ghee, but double the quantity of coconut oil.
3. Asafoetida lovers can tip in 1 gm of asafoetida powder just before closing the lid of the pressure cooker. Asafoetida is traditionally used in cooking not just for its aroma, but because of its ability to prevent gas trouble. Though widely used in Tamil Nadu in pongal, I have not used it in this recipe as I love the simple flavor of onions or shallots in the pongal.