Sweet Pongal

Pongal (or Makar Sankranti) is one of the most popular Indian harvest festivals celebrated to thank the Sun God (Surya Bhagawan) for the bountiful harvest. In Tamil Nadu (where I am from), it is celebrated for 4 days in the month of January (Tamil month ‘Thai’) hence it is also called ‘Thai Pongal’.

Traditionally, prior to the festival start, the whole house will be thoroughly cleaned, white washed with sunnambu (slaked lime) and decorated with mango leaves and arisi mavu (rice flour) kolam. Nowadays, there is no more “white washing” involved as synthetic paint has replaced the old sticky lime coat!

Here are the details how the 4-day Pongal festival is celebrated:

• Bogi (Day 1): The cleaning exercise culminate. All unwanted items get burnt outside. Our ancestors have advised that we should also burn any ill feelings, hatred, animosity towards others on this day!
• Thai Pongal (Day 2): This is the main festival day, usually falls on January 14th. Sweet Pongal, Venn Pongal (White Pongal), Special Sambar (my mom makes 30+ vegetables sambar) are made and offered to Sun God. Some make vada, payasam etc along with Pongal. Traditionally Pongal is cooked outdoor on mud pots, but these days they get cooked in pressure cooker! When the pongal pot boils, we keep chanting “Pongalo Pongal… Pongalo Pongal…” few times. These days, we just scream these words when the pressure cooker makes the whistles when the pongal is getting cooked…  And do not forget the awesome fresh sugar cane (purple variety) that is enjoyed during the Pongal days…  And those movies from our favorite Super Stars lining up for release!
• Mattu/ Cow Pongal (Day 3): Day after Thai Pongal. Farm animals (especially cows, goats) get special bath, are decorated and fed sweet pongal. Jallikattu (taming of bulls) is celebrated on this day. History books say that in ancient days, men have to tame the bulls to marry a girl (only to be tamed forever in life by that lady later on in life!).
• Kaanum Pongal (Day 4): This is the special day for young lovers. Men (whoever tamed the bull and survived on Day 3) meet their lovers. Families, friends, even enemies (those not in good terms) meet each other and exchange pleasantries. It is a special day for the newly married women as they eagerly look forward to their families visiting them in their new homes along with gifts, dresses, some harvested items and their favorite homemade snacks.

Enough stories. Now let us jump to the very simple Pongal Recipe that I usually make with white rice. If you want to make healthier variations, for a change you can either make the Black or Forbidden Rice (Kavuni Arisi) Pongal or the Barnyard Millet (Kuthiraivali) Pongal.

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Sweet Pongal

An awesome porridge like dish cooked with rice, jaggery and fresh ghee. Also, make sure to read some interesting details how Pongal festival is celebrated.

Course Snack

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Pongal, Sweet Pongal

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Senthil Sadasivam

Ingredients

• 2 cups Raw rice
• 2 cups Jaggery powdered
• 1/4 cup Ghee
• 1/4 cup Cashews
• 1/4 cup Raisins
• 4 Cardamom (Elaichi) powdered

Instructions

1. Cook raw rice with 4 times water in electric rice cooker or a pressure cooker.

2. Boil powdered jaggery with 3 cups water for a few mins until the jaggery powder is fully dissolved (stir to accelerate this process). Filter using a colander to remove any residue.

3. Mix this jaggery syrup (paagu) with cooked rice and continue cooking on a pot in medium heat (smash the rice with a wooden quirl or mathu to break them into a paste) until you get desired consistency.
4. Heat ghee (good homemade ghee is a must) on a pan, fry cashews and raisins and add to the Pongal.
5. Top off with more ghee, crushed cardamom (elaichi), mix well and serve.

Recipe Notes

There are many other popular variations to making this Sweet Pongal - some cook with moong dal, chana dal, white/ rock sugar, milk, coconut, etc.  This pongal can also made using millets instead of rice.