Khara pongal with rice and mung dal
Savoury porridge from southern India, topped with cashews and spices.
Active time25 min
Cooking35 min
Total1 h
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Ingredients
- ½ tbsp ground turmeric
- 3 cups of water
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- ½ tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- a quarter of a cup of cashew nuts
- 1 tbsp ground pepper
- half a cup of dry white rice
- 1 pinch of salt — optional
- 1 tbsp ghee
- half a cup of mung dal (dry)
- 2 green chillies
Preparation
Rinse the rice and the hulled, split mung dal. Put them in a saucepan with the water and turmeric, then simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, until very tender. Stir and add a little water if necessary.
½ tbsp ground turmeric3 cups of waterhalf a cup of dry white ricehalf a cup of mung dal (dry)- saucepan
While the rice and dal are cooking, wash the curry leaves and chillies, then slit the chillies. Roughly chop the cashews. Heat half the ghee in a frying pan and brown the cashews for 2 minutes, then set them aside.
10 curry leavesa quarter of a cup of cashew nuts1 tbsp ghee2 green chillies- large frying pan
- knife
Add the remaining ghee and the oil to the pan. Add the mustard seeds first. Wait until they start to pop, then add the curry leaves, pepper, cumin and chillies. Return the cashews to the pan last.
1 tbsp cumin seeds½ tbsp mustard seeds1 tbsp sunflower oil1 tbsp ground pepper- large frying pan
Stir in the cooked rice and mung dal, heat everything through and add the salt if desired.
1 pinch of salt — optional- large frying pan
Allergens
- Milk
- Mustard
- Tree nuts
Sources and credits
Photo: Au Menu — created with ImageGen at Roch’s request · Editorial permission from Roch for Au Menu; OpenAI terms
Au Menu · AI-generated illustration
Recipe translated and adapted from Wikibooks and its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Adaptation éditoriale : Routine photos quotidienne autorisée par Roch : vingt nouvelles recettes et vingt versions corrigées publiées sans photo le 20 octobre 2026. Anciennes images conservées dans leur historique. Revue technique et visuelle, compositions variées, textes et modèles conservés ; aucun essai en cuisine revendiqué.
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