Friday, August 1, 2008

Sweet Pongal.

Sarkarai pongal or sweet pongal is a dish usually made during sankaranthi festival or on many auspicious days in India.



Ingredients:
Basmathi rice/Unboiled rice- 1 cup
green gram dhal- 1/2 cup
Jaggery (crushed)- 1 1/2 cup
Ghee (clarified butter) - 2 tbsp
water- 4 cups
2% milk - 2 cup
raisins - 10
cashew nuts - 10
cardamom - 3 (crushed)
ginger - 1 inch (chopped)

Method:

Wash the rice and dhal 2 times in water.
Add 4 cups of water and pressure cook it for 4 whistles.
Take out after the steam gets released.
Mash the rice and dhal .Keep aside.
Add 1/2 cup water to jaggery and boil it. Then filter the clear jaggery solution , leaving behind the sand.
Take a thick bottom vessel and boil the milk.
Add the mashed rice-dhal mixture and let it become thick .
Now slowly add the jaggery solution too.
In a frying pan heat the ghee and roast the cashews, raisins to golden color.
Garnish the sweet rice with this hot ghee, cashews and raisin.
Add chopped ginger and cardamom and serve hot.
If you add more ghee , this sweet pongal will be more tasty.

Serving suggestions:

Makes 4- 5 cups.
Mostly this sarkarai Pongal is done for poojas or festivals.It is served with ulunthu vadai in Hindu Temples as prasatham.

2 comments:

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Viki
How are you? I am going to make this pongol today ...This is awesome
wish you Happy Pongol

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Ushnish ji. I am doing good. How are you ? I am so glad that you like this recipe. This recipe is the one we follow from time immemorial in our family:) Adding more ghee (1/2 cup) along with few tbsp of condensed milk will yield a very rich sarkarai pongal. Some people specialize it and make it just like halwa, with ghee dripping in every scoop. But I limit my ghee addiction because of my weight:)

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