Sweet Pongal

It’s the first blogpost of 2019!

And it’s Pongal time. So here is my first post of the Pongal season- To start on a sweet note, we have Sweet Pongal! The sweetest thing on Pongal apart from the sugarcane 😀 It is a super easy dish, with rice, dal and jaggery as the key ingredients. Not to forget the ghee fried cashews and raisins 😍 Drooling already? Then what happens when you know that you eat this sweet Pongal topped with freshly grated coconut? Can’t wait for Pongal? This is not necessarily a Pongal dish. It can also be made for breakfast, lunch or even brunch as it is quite filling. On Pongal, I make this sweet Pongal along with Ven Pongal and Ezhukai kootu early in the morning and we manage the day with these three 😁 And don’t forget to serve it hot if you don’t want to miss the superb texture. Then enjoy!

Preparation time: 10 minutes| Cooking time: 30 to 40 minutes.
Course: Main| Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients:

Raw rice- ½ cup

Moong dal- ¼ cup

Grated jaggery- ½ cup to ¾ cup (depending upon your sweetness preference and quality of jaggery)

Ghee- 2 to 3 tblsp

Raisins- 1 tblsp

Cashews- 1 tblsp (split)

Cardamom powder- a pinch

Method:

1.       Add moong dal to a kadai and dry roast it till it turns fragnant.

2.       Wash rice and moong dal together to remove impurities. Add rice and moong dal to a pressure cooker.

3.       Add 2 ½ cups of water to it. Cook for 4 whistles and keep in low flame for 5 minutes.  Switch off and keep it aside for the pressure to release.

4.       Meanwhile take the grated jaggery in a vessel and add ¼ cup water to it. Cook on medium flame until the jiggery melts well.

5.       Once the pressure is released, open the lid and mash the rice well.

6.       Filter the jaggery syrup into the mashed rice. Keep it over low flame and mix well. Add ghee as per your preference. Add cardamom powder and mix everything well. Switch off flame.

7.       In a kadai add a tblsp of ghee and fry the raisins and cashews.

8.       Add it to the Pongal and give a mix.

Notes:

·       Water quantity to cook rice and dal may slightly differ depending upon the quality of rice.

·       After opening the cooker, if the rice is dry, add ¼ cup of hot water or milk while mashing.

·       Increase or decrease the quantity of jaggery depending upon your sweetness preference.

·       The colour of Pongal depends upon the colour of jaggery.

·       Usage of ghee is as per your preference. The more you add, the tastier.

Step by step pictures

 dry roast moong dal until aromatic

 wash rice and moon dal.

add it to a pressure cooker.

add water as mentioned

pressure cook for 4 whistles and 

keep in low flame for 5 minutes

switch off

 add water to grated jaggery and cook

 on low flame until it melts

 once pressure releases, open the lid

 mash well

 filter the jaggery syrup into 

the mashed rice. mix it well

 fry raisins and cashews in ghee

keep it ready

 add ghee as per your preference

 add cardamom powder.

mix well

add the fried raisins and cashews.

give it a mix.

sweet pongal is ready to serve