Sweet Pongal Recipe In Pot - How To Make Sakkarai Pongal in Traditional Method

Hope u all had a great pongal celebration. I too had a good time in my in-laws house and we celebrated very well .. I wanted to post sakkarai pongal recipe in pot for a long time. I think this is the right time to post this recipe along with some pictures of pongal celebration in my house.This time pongal turned out very tasty , flavourful and soft..It tasted great even the next day after reheating.I’ve given the step by step pictures for making pongal traditionally in a pot. U can do the same in pressure cooker. The quantity of ingredients i’ve given is the same for both except water quantity. The amount of water may vary for cooking in aluminium or brass pot and the cooking time also differs. In pressure cooker, u can make it fast..In Tamil Nadu, we get pongal arisi and paagu vellam during this time and we used to buy that for making pongal. In bangalore , i buy good quality sona masuri raw rice and i make sure to buy dark colored jaggery to get a nice color of pongal. So the color of pongal may vary depending the color of jaggery u use. The water quantity may also vary depending on the quality of rice. I’ve tried to approximate the water quantity as per the rice varieties i used.Lets see the Tamil nadu traditional method of making sweet pongal in a pot !

INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 200ml

Raw rice/ Sona masoori – 1 cup Yellow Moong dal – 3 tbsp Raw Milk – 1/2 cup ( Unboiled , fresh milk) Water – 4-5 cups Salt – A pinch Jaggery – 1-1.25 cups (based on the sweetness) Ghee – 4 tbsp Cashews – few nos Elachi/ cardamom seeds– 3-4 nos Cloves – 3 nos Edible camphor – A pinch Jaathikai -  A pinch ( take a small piece , roast in ghee and crush it before adding)

METHOD

In a kadai , dry roast moong dal for few minutes till u get a nice aroma and golden brown in color.Mix the rice and roasted dal. Wash , drain the water. Add milk and water to the aluminium or brass vessel.When it starts boiling and after it raises to the rim of the pot,add the washed rice,dal mixture & a pinch of salt.Remove the excess water and keep it in a bowl.Add this water whenever needed.Cover the vessel with a lid and cook the rice in medium flame OR If using Pressure cooker,cook for 4-5 whistles till it rice is cooked well. In the mean time , grate the jaggery and keep it ready. After rice is cooked well, open the cooker/vessel ,mash it well & add the jaggery and mix well till the jaggery melts and allow it to boil in low flame..Add a tbsp of ghee to avoid the pongal sticking to the bottom ..Make sure it doesn’t get burnt..Give a nice boil.Keep mixing After the raw smell of jaggery emanates,switch off the flame. Please make sure the pongal has slight moisture content when u switch off. ( ie it should be slightly watery n mushy. Don’t make it very thick .) This is very important .. Once it cools down , the consistency will be correct else it will  become very hard....If u feel , all the water is absorbed and if it looks dry , add little boiled milk or coconut milk , Mix well and switch off the flame. In a frying pan , add a drop of ghee and roast the cloves & cardamom seeds, jaathikai.Crush it & add to pongal.Mix well.Again heat 3 tbsp of ghee in the pan and roast the cashews till golden brown. Add it to the pongal with ghee.Add a pinch of edible camphor powder. Mix well before serving.Yummy , flavourful pongal is ready !!

NOTE

Adding milk is optional. U can make only adding water. If u want Milk version, add only milk instead of water. Make sure the rice and dal is cooked perfectly( should be mushy) before adding jaggery else rice will be visible and separate. Adding more ghee makes it more rich n tasty. Adding nutmeg & edible camphor is purely optional. But adding them enhances the flavour for sure.

Last but not the least , here are some pictures of pongal celebration in our house .

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