Quinoa Pongal is an easy, comforting, and one-pot healthy dish made by cooking quinoa with moong dal in an Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker, then tempered with cumin, pepper, curry leaves, ghee, and roasted cashews.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1/4 cup split yellow moong dal
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • salt (to taste)
  • 3 cups water (to cook & (extra 1/2 cup for adjusting consistency))

For Tempering

  • 2 tablespoons ghee
  • 8-10 cashew nuts
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed whole pepper
  • 2 green chilies
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (finely chopped)
  • 1 stalk curry leaves
  • 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)

Method

Stovetop Pressure Cooker

  1. Add rinsed quinoa, split yellow moong dal, turmeric powder, salt, and water. Mix well. Close the lid and put the whistle weight on. Cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame and turn off the gas.
  2. In a tempering pan, add ghee. Once it's hot, add a few cashew nuts. Saute for a minute or till the cashew nuts turn light golden.
  3. Then add cumin (jeera seeds), and black pepper (whole or lightly crushed), and let the cumin seeds sizzle.
  4. Next, add green chilies (slightly lengthwise), ginger (finely chopped), curry leaves, and asafetida. Sauté for another 30 seconds until the curry leaves become crisp.
  5. Once the pressure has been released, open the lid. Add this tempering to the cooked moong dal-quinoa mixture. Mix everything well. Simmer for 1-2 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Note: If the pongal is thick, then add ½-1 cup of hot water and adjust the consistency.
  6. Serve it hot with coconut chutney, vegetable sambar, onion tomato raita.

Instant Pot Method

  1. Follow the same steps as the stovetop pressure cooker, Pressure Cook on High for 6-8 minutes, followed by Natural Pressure Release.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.