SAKKARAI PONGAL/SWEET PONGAL RECIPE

Sakkarai pongal/Sweet pongal is a popular food in south india especially in tamil nadu. For poojasand special days this sweet pongal will be prepared for neivethiyam(offerings to god).

Rice is cooked till mushy then the jaggery will be added for sweetness. For additional taste roasted cashews, dry grapes and lot of ghee will be added.

In tamilnadu for pongal this sakkarai pongal is the main dish we prepare for poojas. But the method wll be little different. Here I have prepared the sakkarai pongal in pressure cooker which is the easier method. But the traditional way of making the pongal doesn’t require cooker. In mud pot or in the brass vessel we will make sakkarai pongal for the pongal festivals. I will give that recipe with video in some other post in future.

Few things which will decide the taste and colour of the pongal are

• Jaggery

The quality of the jaggery is one important factor to get nice yummy sakkarai pongal. Some jaggery will give light colour to the pongal and some jaggery gives dark colour to the pongal.

• Water

The water is also important to get the perfect colour. I am not speaking about the quantity. The nature of water also will change the color of the pongal.  Because in my native we have experienced this thing.

Another important thing is quantity of the water. The quantity should be little more than the amount usually we use for making rice. Then only we can get a mushy pongal,otherwise the output will be only sweet rice(sakkarai satham) not sakkarai pongal J.

• Rice

Another factor is rice. Generally we use raw rice(in tamil pacha arisi) only to make pongal, not a Idly rice/par boiled/boiled rice, (in tamil puzhungal arisi).

• Last but not the least , ghee. Using good quality pure ghee give divine taste and flavor to the sakkarai pongal.

OK, now let’s move on to this recipe.

SAKKARAI PONGAL(SWEET PONGAL)

SOAKING TIME: - | PREPARATION TIME: 5 MIN | COOKING TIME: 30 MIN

AUTHOR: KUZHALIS SAMAIYALARAI

RECIPE TYPE: SWEET

CUISINE: SOUTH INDIAN

SERVES: 4 PERSONS

INGREDIENTS:

                                    ½ cup raw rice

                                    1 cup jaggery

                                    2 tablespoon moong dhal

                                    1 tablespoon channa dhal

                                    2 cups +1/4 cup water

                                    ¼ cup ghee

                                     3 cardamoms

                                    A pinch of pacha karpooram(Edible camphor)

                                   

PREPARATION:

Crush the cardamoms and keep it aside.

Roast the cashews and dry grapes in a tablespoon of ghee and set aside.

Powder the jaggery and keep it ready. This step is to make it dissolve faster.

METHOD:

Dry roast the moong dhal and channa dhal till the nice aroma comes.

Then wash the rice along with the roasted dhals.

Add the required water to the rice and dhal mixture and close the pressure cooker. Cook for around 3 to 4 whistles.

Then switch off the heat and let the pressure release completely.

Open the lid and mash the rice and dhal with a ladle.

In a pan take ¼ cups of water and jaggery and let it heat. Stir continuously till the jaggery gets dissolved completely.

No need to make it proper consistency syrup. Just melt the jaggery and filter the impurities.

Add the filtered syrup to the cooked rice & dhal and mix well.

Stir continuously in low medium flame till it reach the required consistency.

Finally add the crushed cardamom, edible camphor powder, ghee and the roasted cashews and dry grapes.

Mix well and serve hot.

NOTES:

• The colour of the pongal may vary, as it mainly depends on the jaggery we used.

• If you don’t want more/ less sweetness, adjust the jaggery amount.
• Use good quality ghee. Some people may add vanaspathi too, but ghee only will tastes devine.
• Don’t add more edible camphor, because over usuage may spoil the pongal. If you don’t have, you can simply avoid. But using edible camphor will give nice, authentic, divine flavor to the pongal.
• Mash the rice well before adding the jaggery syrup, because after adding jaggery , the rice wont cook. So be sure that the rice and dhals are fully cooked, before adding jaggery.
• If your jaggery is pure and free of impurities, you can add the powdered jaggery directly.
• The number of whistles is purely depends on the cooker you use. , because it may vary from one type to another.

VIDEO RECIPE:

STEP BY STEP PHOTOS: 

Roast the cashews and dry grapes in a tablespoon of ghee and set aside.

Dry roast the moong dhal and channa dhal till the nice aroma comes.

Then wash the rice along with the roasted dhals.

Add the required water to the rice and dhal mixture and close the pressure cooker. Cook for around 3 to 4 whistles.

Then switch off the heat and let the pressure release completely.

Open the lid and mash the rice and dhal with a ladle.

In a pan take ¼ cups of water and jaggery and let it heat. Stir continuously till the jaggery gets dissolved completely. No need to make it proper consistency syrup. Just melt the jaggery and filter the impurities.

Add the filtered syrup to the cooked rice & dhal and mix well.

Stir continuously in low medium flame till it reach the required consistency.

Finally add the crushed cardamom, edible camphor powder, ghee and the roasted cashews and dry grapes.

Mix well and serve hot.

Do try this recipe and please don’t forget to give your feedback in comments.

To get the update of new recipes posted in my blog please do subscribe to my blog or like my face book page or follow me on pinterest or add to your Google + circle.

ü  Email Subscription: Kuzhalis samaiyalarai

ü  Face book Page: Kuzhali's Samaiyalarai

ü   Twitter: KuzhaliSamaiyalai

ü   Instagram: kuzhalis Samaiyalarai

ü   Google +: kuzhalis samaiyalarai

ü   Pinterest: kuzhalis samaiyalarai

ü  For videos please subscribe: kuzhalis samaiyalarai