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6 Min
08/01/2026
Ever notice how some smells can take you home instantly? For Tamil households every January, the aroma of ven pongal, puliyodarai, and medu vada bubbling in clay pots does exactly that. These pongal dishes are more than food for Tamilians – they are a warm, familiar ritual that signals winter’s end. Kitchens during this time are filled with the fragrance of spices, ghee and hot oil as families gather around the pots, sharing stories, laughter, and the comfort of a savoury spread that’s been perfected over generations.
A four-day harvest festival honouring the Sun God, Pongal, is a celebration of the fresh harvest, nature and its abundance and marks the end of winter. The fourth Day is the Tamil version of Makar Sankranti, where the central dish, Pongal, is cooked in earthen pots until it overflows. Other classic pongal dishes like ven pongal, puliyodarai (tamarind rice), and medu vada form the heart of the festive meal, offering comforting flavours that bring families together. What follows is a grand but ultimate feast that features sour, spicy, and ghee-rich Tamil Nadu cuisine.
Central to Pongal festivities, this is the ceremonial dish, cooked outdoors in earthen pots during the festival’s main day. ‘Ven’ means white, and ‘pongal’ refers to abundance that is signified by the contents of the pot (it is cooked in) bubbling over. This is why families gather to watch the pot overflow. The dish is offered to the Sun God first, then shared with the family.
The recipe uses equal parts rice and moong dal, though ratios vary by household. Freshly harvested rice is used to make this dish. Moong dal is dry roasted until fragrant, then cooked with rice until completely soft. The key to the perfect pongal dish is the tempering, made with generous amounts of ghee, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, curry leaves, ginger, and asafoetida. Golden fried cashews, coconut and raisins–all roasted in ghee–are also added in the end.
Medu vada is one of those pongal dishes that appears on every Pongal breakfast table, and it has been a South Indian staple forever. It’s crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, and is much loved by all generations. Even though deep-fried, these urad dal fritters are quite nourishing and an important part of the harvest celebration. The hole in the centre also helps them cook all the way through. To make the batter for medu vada, use pre-soaked urad dal, ground into a fine paste, then mixed with chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves, cumin, and pepper. The trick is getting the batter thick enough to hold shape but also making sure the deep-fried vadas turn out airy and light.
Naturally, sambar is a pongal dish too. However, pongal sambar differs from everyday versions because it uses at least seven vegetables, called thiruvathirai sambar or 7 kari kootu or kuzhambu in Tamil. Families prepare this special version on the main festival day using seasonal vegetables from the fresh harvest. It is made with soft toor daal and vegetables like drumsticks, carrots, beans, potatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, bottle gourd, and raw banana. Whatever seasonal vegetables are available can also be added to the mix. The festive version uses freshly roasted and ground spices rather than store-bought sambar powder, which gives it a deeper flavour. Tamarind is also added for that characteristic sourness. The final tempering, with mustard seeds and curry leaves, seals the entire dish.
Coconut chutney is the fastest side dish to make during Pongal. The speed is important here because Pongal cooking means you are simultaneously juggling multiple pongal dishes. Coconut chutney is not just quick to put together but also works with everything from ven pongal to vada to dosa. It’s made with freshly grated coconut, roasted chana dal, green chillies, and ginger. Some families like to add coriander or mint leaves too. The tempering is what makes it so delicious – mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves are fried in hot oil and poured over the ground coconut mixture. The chutney is best eaten on the very day it is made for its flavour to stay intact.
Curd rice ends the Pongal feast, cooling you down after all the spicy pongal dishes. It's considered lucky to include this in the traditional meal, and it helps with digestion after heavy food. Cook rice and let it cool slightly, then mash it with yoghurt until it reaches a porridge-like consistency. Some families add grated carrots, cucumber, or even grapes and pineapple to turn regular curd rice into a feast-worthy pongal dish. The tempering, poured over the rice at the end, is made by frying mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, and finely chopped ginger in hot oil. The coolness balances out the ghee and spices from earlier courses, and the probiotics in yoghurt aid the stomach in handling the feast.
Tamarind rice, which is often cooked to use up leftover rice, is one of those dishes that people enjoy eating during the festivities as well. Originating from Tamil Nadu, this dish is known for its sharp and sour flavour and is a staple in Pongal celebrations, often served with a side of yoghurt. The cooked rice is mixed with a tamarind base (soaked tamarind pulp with jaggery), spice powder and tempering of mustard seeds, peanuts or cashews, and curry leaves.
Pongal gets the Tamilians in a frenzy with busy kitchens, which goes beyond a ‘viral’ reel moment. The kitchens are gathering spaces, sometimes for multiple generations, and the air is filled with a buzz of stories, laughter, the usual clanking of pots and pans, and familiar aromas. All of these work together as a reminder that celebration is best when it’s felt, tasted, and experienced together. In the end, pongal dishes leave more than a full belly – they radiate warmth, memory, and a sense of belonging.
