Pongal
A delicious, well-balanced, filling, nutritious Tamil breakfast dish for everyone.
Servings Prep Time
5servings 15minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
25minutes 15minutes
Servings Prep Time
5servings 15minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
25minutes 15minutes
Ingredients
  • 400gm B.T. rice(Bombay Terminus rice or aged raw rice, see note 1)
  • 100gm split green gram lentils(mung bean lentils / moog dal)
  • 3gm cumin seeds(jeera)
  • 2gm black peppercorns
  • 10gm ginger
  • 10gm hot green chilies
  • 2gm dry hot red chilies
  • 1sprig curry leaves
  • 2gm mustard seeds
  • 15ml coconut oil
  • 15ml ghee(clarified butter) (vegans see note 2)
  • 50gm grated coconut
  • 150gm onions(peeled) (or shallots)
  • 15gm salt
  • 1500ml 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.