Instant pot Pongal recipe | Khara Pongal | Katte Pongali
Ven Pongal is an authentic South Indian recipe for rice and lentil porridge that is deliciously comforting and ridiculously easy to make even for beginners. This recipe for Pongal lists instructions for both Instant pot Pongal and stovetop.
Ingredients
- 1 cup short-grain rice Use any Indian variety short-grain rice like sona masoori or seeraga samba
- ⅔ cup split moong dal
- 6 +⅔cup water to adjust for different consistencies see notes below the recipe
- 2 to 3 tablespoons ghee clarified butter
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon crushed or minced ginger See notes below
- ¼ cup cashews
- 1 sprig of curry leaves or around 10 to 12
- Pinch of asafoetida / Hing Use gluten-free asafoetida if you prefer
- Salt to taste I used 2 teaspoons of Pink Himalayan Salt
- 2 teaspoons Peppercorns crush half of the peppercorns if you prefer
Optional Ingredients
- 1 cup diced carrots or any preferred veggies diced small like Zucchini peas, etc..
- ¼ cup sliced almonds completely optional
- Pinch of Turmeric
Instructions
How to make Ven Pongal (Khara pongal) in Instant pot
- Wash the rice and moong dal well and drain the water completely.
- Turn on the Instant pot on Saute mode and wait until it displays HOT.
- Now dry roast the washed rice and moong dal until they give a nice aroma. Don't fry them until they turn brown. (This step is optional and will add to the flavor of the dish). Now remove the rice and dal into a dry bowl and keep ready.
- Now add ghee to the Instant pot inner pot, and to this add only a few of the given cashew nuts, peppercorns, and curry leaves( just enough to temper in the end). Saute for a minute until cashew nuts turn golden brown and curry leaves are crispy. Now remove the cashews, curry leaves, and peppercorns from the ghee into a small bowl and set them aside to garnish in the end.
- Now to the remaining ghee in an Instant pot, add cumin seeds, the rest of the peppercorns, diced ginger, rest of the cashews, sliced almonds (if using), rest of the curry leaves, and turmeric powder and saute for a minute or two until they release nice aroma and cashews turn golden brown.
- Now, add Hing (asafoetida) and stir well.
- Then add the diced carrots (if using) and saute for a minute.
- Next, add dry roasted rice and moong dal and saute for a minute.
- Then add water, salt and mix everything really well and make sure to deglaze i.e. scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing is sticking.
- Close the Instant pot lid, turn the vent knob to SEAL, Cancel the Saute mode, Switch on the porridge mode for 20 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the Instant pot turns off, let the steam release naturally for 10 minutes, and then do a quick release by turning the vent knob to VENT.
- Wait until all the steam is released and the pin is dropped and open the lid.
- Stir everything well and transfer it to a dish. Add the tempering that you reserved in a bowl and serve it with Coconut or Peanut chutney and Rasam or Sambar or just a pickle.
How to make Ven Pongal (Khara Pongal) in a Stovetop Pressure cooker
- Follow the same steps as above in a stovetop pot until you add all the ingredients including water and salt too and then close the pressure cooker lid and cook on medium for 3 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally and open the lid, garnish with the tempering that you reserved in a bowl and serve hot.
How to make Ven Pongal (Khara Pongal) in a Stovetop Pot
- Follow the same steps as above in a stovetop pot until you add all the ingredients including water and salt too and then cook until rice and dal are mushy. Add more water if required while cooking. Once it is done, garnish with the tempering that you reserved in a bowl and serve hot.
Notes
- Vegetables and Almonds are not at all used traditionally to make this dish. I just add them to add more nutrition for my family.
- The consistency of this dish depends on the amount of water used. For restaurant-style Pongal: Use 1:4 ( Rice+moong dal: Water ) in Instant pot in porridge mode. This gives perfect thick yet not too thick texture to the Pongal. For thinner consistency: Pongal usually thickens as it cools and if we make it too thick to start with, it might be too difficult to handle it, serve it or eat it. So if you want a slightly thinner consistency Pongal especially when you are serving without sambar or Rasam on the side, then use 1:5 ( Rice+moong dal: Water ) in Instant pot in porridge mode. This gives a thinner porridge that is perfect to serve with just a chutney or pickle without liquid side dishes like sambar or rasam.
- Finely chopped ginger gives an authentic taste, however, when making it for kids, either crush ginger into a paste or just make two pieces of the 1-inch ginger piece and crush them with pestle still keeping them intact and use them in this recipe of Pongal. This ensures kids don't get ginger pieces while eating but still the ginger flavor is infused evenly in the dish as you crushed and used it.
- Adjust the ratio of rice and dal based on your taste. If you do, adjust the water accordingly.
- Please refer to the post above with frequently asked questions and other useful information if you are new to making this dish.