Sakkarai Pongal or Sweet Pongal is a speciality of Southern part of India. Made during the festival of Sankranthi and Pongalm its also a very popular breakfast. It is made with rice, daal and jaggery. It’s topped with ghee and nuts. A sweet treat like none other.
Pongal / Sankranti to all who celebrate!! When they say India is a land of festivals, it is true. We probably have a festival every month of the year. The crazy part is that they are not small festivals; each one is big. Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to Sun God. It’s a celebration of the first crop. It’s celebrated over four days, each day with its own significance. You can read more about the mythology and significance behind Pongal here.
To me, festivals are all about family, the memories, the moments. Having a peaceful and quiet time with family is so important. Sugarcane, fresh turmeric, Vada, different varieties of rice and most importantly Sakkarai Pongal aka Sweet Pongal is the most popular for this festival.
Sweet Pongal / Sakkarai Pongal / Ven Pongal
Sweet Pongal or Sakkarai Pongal is a very simple dish but few steps to remember to get the perfect pongal. The ratio of the daal to rice is important. I prefer 1:1/2, where you have the perfect amount of daal to rice. Roasting the daal is another very important step so the daal doesn’t get too mushy. Cooking it in a pressure cooker definitely helps with the texture. I like to use two different kinds of jaggery, but you can use one kind.
Make sure to cook the jaggery with water so the dirt remains in the bottom, also to melt the jaggery. The last step is fresh home made ghee, A MUST.
Also if you like you can add a pinch of camphor, add that in the end while adding cardamom powder for that special temple pongal touch.
Happy Pongal/Sankranthi Everyone!!
- 1 cup raw rice, I use sona masoori
- ½ cup yellow moong dal
- 1 cup crushed/sliced or grated jaggery( I use a mix of light and dark jaggery) use another ¼ cup if you like more sweet
- 5 + 1 +1 cups water
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder(fresh) use about 6 green small cardamom
- 5 tbsp fresh ghee
- 12-15 cashewnuts
- Use a pressure cooker or a pan. Toast the yellow split moong daal on low heat until it lightly turns color and gets light brown. Add the rice in it and wash it together very well and add 5 cups of water and pressure cook it for 3 whistles or cook in on medium heat in a pan for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit.
- In another sauce pan, add jaggery and 1 cup of water and slow melt it on medium to slow heat. Make sure not to boil it. Let all the jaggery melt and simmer for 5 minutes. DO NOT over cook this. Strain the jaggery and set aside.
- Open the lid of the rice and pour the jaggery in it, add a pinch of salt. Add 1 cup of water and let the rice and jaggery simmer S for another 10 minutes.
- While that is simmering, in a pan add the ghee. Add the cashews and toast it. Turn off and set aside.
- Once the pongal has simmered for 15 minutes, add the ghee with cashews, powdered cardamom and turn off the heat. Cover for 10 minutes before serving.
If you make this Pongal, do tag me on social media at #foodfashionparty. I’d love to see it.
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Looks great! How do you translate pongal in English? Porridge?
Yes, I guess porridge.
This looks like my kind of breakfast. Your photos are stunning as well.