பொங்கல் Sakkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal Recipe

பொங்கல் Sakkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal Recipe.

Sweet Pongal / Sakkarai Pongal / South Indian Rice Pudding recipe made during the pongal festival of tamilnadu தை பொங்கல். Pongal is also served as prashad/neivedhyam – an offering to god.

Sakkarai Pongal has to be the king of desserts for Tamil people all around the world. It is also considered as prasaadam, a religious offering to god. The word Pongal means “overflowing” which signifies prosperity. Pongal is a major festival in Taminadu. The word “pon” in Tamil means Gold. The color of yellow, the color of sun. Pongal is celebrated to give thankfulness to the Sun God. In the medieval Chola empire days Pongal was celebrated as “puthiyeedu”. Puthiyeedu meant the first harvest of the year. Pongal is traditionally made on clay pots set on wood fire. Its still made the same way in the country side of Tamilnadu. Here are some pictures from our Pongal celebrations at my husbands place in the village.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-pooja

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-cook-rice-and-dal

Pongal is the simplest of desserts. Lets make some awesome sweet pongal. We need some good quality raw rice and split moong dal.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival

Take quarter cup each of rice and split moong dal and soak it in 1 1/2 cups of water for 15 minutes. Cook the dal and rice together in a pressure cooker for a good 10 minutes on medium flame (8-10 whistles). Remove off heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set this aside. I don’t add the rice and dal directly in the cooker. I place some water in the cooker and place a bowl inside and add the rice, dal and water to the bowl. This way the rice mixture does not scorch in the bottom.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-cook-rice-and-dal

Take half a cup of jaggery and boil it with half a cup of water until all the jaggery is melted. Remove off heat. Jaggery almost always has some sand residue. So strain the boiled jaggery water on a muslin cloth. Set aside.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-jaggery

Next, we need to roast the dry fruits in ghee and add it to our pongal. We would need ghee, cashew nuts and raisins.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-nuts-and-raisins

Take a small pan and set it on low. Add in the ghee and the cashew nuts. Roast on low flame until lightly brown. Low flame is the key to good roasted nuts. Add in the raisins and wait for it to plump. Once its plumped up, remove off heat and transfer to a small bowl. Set aside.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-ghee-roast

Its time to add some spice magic. We will need 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom powder and a pinch of nutmeg. Mortar and pestle is the best way to grind cardamom. I use a micro-plane zester to zest nutmeg.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-spices

Mix the jaggery water and the cooked rice and dal mixture and set it on a stove on low flame. Keep stirring constantly. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add in the cardamom and nutmeg powder. Add in a couple of pinches of SALT. Salt rounds the flavor. Now add in the ghee and nut mixture and stir until all the ghee is absorbed into the pongal.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-finish

Remove off heat and serve.

sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal

 

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sakkarai-pongal-chakkara-pongal-recipe-sweet-pongal-neivedhyam-pongal festival-plated

பொங்கல் Sakkarai pongal / Sweet Pongal Recipe

Sweet Pongal / Sakkarai Pongal / South Indian Rice Pudding recipe made during the pongal festival of tamilnadu தை பொங்கல். Pongal is also served as prashad/neivedhyam – an offering to god.

  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: 5 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the rice dal Mixture

  • 1/4 cup raw rice
  • 1/4 cup split moong dal
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Jaggery Mixture

  • 1/2 cup Jaggery
  • 1/2 cup water

Tempering Mixture

  • 4 tablespoon ghee
  • 2 tablespoon cashew nut
  • 2 tablespoon raisins

Spice Mixture

  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
  • pinch of nutmeg powder
  • 2 pinch salt

Instructions

  1. Take quarter cup each of rice and split moong dal and soak it in 1 1/2 cups of water for 15 minutes. Cook the dal and rice together in a pressure cooker for a good 10 minutes on low flame. Remove off heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set this aside.
  2. Take half a cup of jaggery and boil it with half a cup of water until all the jaggery is melted. Remove off heat. Jaggery almost always has some sand residue. So strain the boiled jaggery water on a muslin cloth. Set aside.
  3. Take a small pan and set it on low. Add in the ghee and the cashewnuts. Roast on low flame until lightly brown. Add in the raisins and wait for it to plump. Once its plumped up, remove off heat and transfer to a small bowl. Set aside.
  4. Mix the jaggery water and the cooked rice and dal mixture and set it on a stove on low flame. Keep stirring constantly. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add in the cardamom and nutmeg powder. Add in a couple of pinches of SALT. Salt rounds the flavor. Now add in the ghee and nut mixture and stir until all the ghee is absorbed into the pongal.
  5. Remove off heat and serve hot or at room temperature.
  • Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: South Indian

sakkar-pongal

10 thoughts on “பொங்கல் Sakkarai Pongal / Sweet Pongal Recipe”

  1. thanks , am going to try this.
    but pls recommend where to get muslin cloth or a idly cloth that is safe and durable for cooking (am going to try sweet pongal for first time)

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