Sweet Pongal

I made Sweet pongal, as they make traditionally in most of the South Indian homes during the harvest festival, which is called Pongal in Tamil or Sankranthi in Telugu. It's a celebration of the prosperity associated with the harvest by thanking the rain, sun and the farm animals that have helped in the harvest. It's like Thanksgiving in India. It also signifies the day, on which the sun begins its journey northwards is referred to as Makara Sankranti. Wonderful info about this festival can be found here and here.

Sweet pongal is what my mom and my mom-in-law makes during this festival. I now make it too. Most of the South Indians must have tasted this or one that is made with sugar. I have tasted both and love both of them. It truly signifies the meaning of a real pongal. As written in Wiki -

"Sweet(Sakarai, in Tamil) Pongal or Veetu Pongal, it is celebrated by boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new pots, which are later topped with brown sugar, cashew nuts and raisins early in the morning and allowing it to boil over the vessel. This tradition gives Pongal its name.
Kolam decorations in front of house during Thai Pongal
The moment the rice boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to shout of "Ponggalo Ponggal!" and blowing the sangu (a conch), a custom practiced during the festival to announce it was going to be a year blessed with good tidings. For Tamils, it is considered a good sign to watch it boil over, since it means that good luck and prosperity is forthcoming. Then New boiled rice is offered to the Nature during sunrise, a gesture which symbolises thanks to the sun and nature for providing prosperity. It is later served to the people present in the house for the ceremony. People also prepare savories and sweets such as vadai, murukku, payasam and visit each other and exchange greetings. "

To make this relish you need :

2 cups - Rice
3/4 cup - Moong dal ( pesara pappu)
3 cups - Brown sugar or Jaggery
3 cups - Milk + 2 cups water
1/2 cup - Ghee
1/2 cup - Grated coconut (optional)
1 tbsp - Cardamom powder
3 tbsp - Broken cashews
2 tbsp - Golden raisins
and a pinch of salt to enhance the taste ( I like to add a pinch of salt in all sweet dishes, it really enhances the taste of the dish)


Method :

Broil rice and dal together in a pan on medium heat, till the raw smell disappears and dal smells good. Rinse them well with water and in a thick bottom pan or in pressure cooker, cook rice and dal together with milk and 2 cups water listed above for 15-20 mins with weight on. The rice and dal has to cook soft, not grainy.

Once cooked, transfer the contents into a separate deep thick bottomed pan and add brown sugar and salt. Mix well. The mixture will turn watery and will thicken in few minutes. Keep stirring. Pay attention to not to burn the bottom of the pan.

In a separate pan, heat ghee and fry cashews till golden color, and add raisins and fry till they balloons out. Add grated coconut into the pan and saute for 2-3 mins. Add the contents into the rice-dal-jaggery and mix well. Add cardamom powder and mix well once again. Cook for another 2-3 mins stirring occasionally.

If the pongal is too thick add little more milk or water and cook for another 2-3 mins. If it is runny, cook little longer, till pongal turns thick. Add more or less ghee,sugar according to your taste.

Please note that, I've used brown sugar for my recipe as I find the taste similar to that of jaggery and it is easy and convenient to use. I use it for most of the recipes which calls for jaggery.

Also, if you are using sugar instead of brown sugar or jaggery, use 3 cups of sugar instead of brown sugar or jaggery. Take out a handful of moong dal(pesara pappu) and add a handful of bengal gram dal (sanaga pappu). The rest of the ingredients stays the same and so is the method.


Happy Pongal and Makara Sankranthi Subakanshalu to all of you.

____________________________________________________________