The name of the festival ‘Pongal’ itself comes from the recipe Pongal. Basically, this festival is all about rice whose method of preparation and the final output is known as Pongal. You can say that this period marks the gourmet delight respecting the beauty of harvest. T he making of sweet rice is the most important preparation done. This is a dish prepared with rice, dal, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar and milk. All these ingredients are cooked in a new clay pot in the open and allowed to boil over, signifying plenty and prosperity for the year ahead. This is offered to the Sun God and partaken as prasad.

In this article we will discuss about the different types of Pongal recipes which are prepared especially on these 4 days.

• Ven Pongal / Venn Pongal
• Sakkarai Pongal / Sarkarai Pongal
• Chackra Pongal / Chakara Pongal
• Sweet Pongal Recipe
• Rava Pongal
• Khara Pongal
• Rice Pongal

HOW TO MAKE THE PONGAL MAIN STATEMENT DISH

According to the ritual, this Pongal rice is allowed to boil and spill over. Once the rice is cooked and is ready, it is offered to the sun god on a new banana leaf along with other traditional delicacies, like vadas, payasam, etc. Now let’s see its detailed recipe.

Ingredients

        ·         1 cup Rice

        ·          1/4 cup Moong dal

        ·          2- 1 tsp jeera

        ·          1/2-1 tsp peppercorns

        ·          1/2 tsp pepper powdered fresh

        ·          A few Cashewnuts broken

        ·          1/2 cup dessicated Coconut

        ·          A pinch of Turmeric powder

        ·          Ghee

Method

1.    Fry the Moongdal a little till you get a light flavour.

2.    Mix the dal with the rice, add 2 -3 cups of water (the rice should cook very very soft)

3.     Add turmeric powder, coconut, a few peppercorns and a 1-2 tsp of ghee to the rice and pressure cook till done.

4.  When done, take a kadai add sufficient of Ghee to it, more the ghee better it tastes, add jeera, pepper corns and cashewnuts.

5.     Add the cooked rice mixture, add pepper powder, salt and mix well with the ghee and jeera/cashewnuts.

The pongal is ready!!! You can add some more ghee at the end if you need. It is best eaten fresh and Hot! You can serve it with Coconut Chutney, or Onion/Tomato Raita.

VEN PONGAL

Ingredients

·         Rice 1 Cup

·          Moong Dal 1/4 Cup

·          Black Pepper Powder to taste

·          Zera Powder 1 Tbsp

·          Ginger Paste 1 Tsp

·          Dry Dinger (Sukku) 1 Tbsp

·         Heeng 1 Tsp

·         Cashew for garnishing

·         Margaring/Ghee 2 Tbsp

·         Water 6 Cups

·         Salt to taste

Method

1.    Wash rice and dal together and drain nicely.

2.     In the Rice cooker heat 1 tbsp ghee.

3.     Add rice and dal. Fry till the ghee coats the mixture.

4.     Add the rest of the ingredients, except Cashews.

5.     Add water. Cover and cook.

6.     Keep testing the water level and stir frequently as it has a tendency to stick to the bottom.

7.    When rice gets fully mashed garnish with cashews. 

SAKKARAI PONGAL

Ingredients

·         2 litres Milk

·         1 1/2 cups Newly harvested Rice

·         1/4 cup Moong Dal

·         15 no. Cashewnuts

·         10 no. Almonds

·         30 no. Kishmis

·         1/4 level teaspoon Nutrieg Powder

·         1 1/2 cup Jaggery (grated)

·          1/4 teaspoon Saffron (crushed)

·         1 teaspoon Cardamom powder

·         2 tablespoons ghee 

Method

1.    Chop almonds and cashewnuts.

2.    Clean kishmis.

3.    Pour milk in the earthen pot called 'Pongapani' and place it on fire.

4.    When the milk starts boiling add rice and dal, after washing. As soon as the rice and dal are cooked to softness, add jaggery and ghee.

5.  Let cook on medium fire for some time and then put in almond and cashewnut bits, saffron, nutrieg and cardamom powders.

6.    Now, add the kishmis.

7.    Bring to one or two good boils.

CHAKARA PONGAL

Ingredients

·         Long Grain Rice 1 cup

·         Moong Dhal 1/8 cup

·         Milk 1 cup

·         Melted Butter (Ghee) 1/2 to 1 cup

·         Powdered Jaggery (Gur) or Brown Sugar 1 3/4 cup

·         Cardamom Powder 1/2 tsp

·         Raisins 10 no

·         Cashew Nuts (whole) 6 to 8 no

Method

1.    Cook rice and moong dal with milk and water until well done.

2.    Fry cashews and raisins in ghee until golden brown and keep aside.

3.    Take water and add gur (or brown sugar) and boil it until it dissolves and becomes thick.

4.    Add cooked rice and dal to gur and keep stirring on low heat until well mixed.

5.    Add remaining ghee in spoonfuls and continue stirring.

6.    Add powdered cardamom and mix well.

7.    Decorate with fried raisins and cashews.

8.    Serve with a Smile !

SWEET PONGAL

Ingredients

·         1 cup Raw Rice

·         1/2 cup Green Gram Dal

·         1 cup Milk

·         3 cups Jaggery (powdered)

·         4 tbsp Ghee

·         2 tbsp Cashewnuts

·         2 tbsp Raisins

·         5 no Cardamoms (powdered)

·         2 no Cloves (powdered)

·         1 small piece Nutmeg (grated or powdered)

·         A pinch of Saffron

·         2 1/2 cups Water

Method

1.    Roast dry the green gram dal for a couple of minutes.

2.    Cook the rice and green gram dhal with 2 1/2 cups of water and 1 cup milk in the microwave and set aside.

3.    Dissolve the jaggery in 3/4 cup water and cook on a low heat till the jaggery melts.

4.    Strain the jaggery to remove the dirt.

5.    Put the syrup once more on the heat and stir till it becomes slightly sticky.

6.    Add the cooked rice and dhal.

7.    Heat the 4 tbsp ghee.

8.    Fry the cashewnuts and raisins and add to the pongal.

9.    Add the powdered cardamoms, cloves nutmeg and saffron.

10. Mix well and serve hot.

RAVA PONGAL

Ingredients

·         Rava 1 cup

·         Moong Dal 1/2 cup

·         Cashew Nuts 10 no

·         Ghee 4 tbs

·         Curry Leaves

·         Chopped Ginger 1 tsp

·         Blackpeppercorn 1 tsp

·         Cumin Seeds 1 tsp

·         Salt to taste

Method

1.    Fry the rava without any oil till it is really hot to touch.

2.    Fry the black pepper and cumin seeds in a teaspoon of ghee and make a coarse powder of them.

3.    Fry the cashewnuts, curryleaves, chopped ginger and keep aside.

4.    Pressure cook the moong dal with 1 cup of water.

5.    After the pressure subsides transfer the cooked dal to a heavy bottomed pan and add a cup of water.

6.    Add the required salt.

7.    Allow this to boil well.

8.    Add the fried rava to the above boiling (cooked) moong dhal in small measures and stir continuously till the rava is cooked completely.

9.    While the rava is being cooked add the ghee little by little.

10. Finally, add the coarsely powdered pepper and jeera and the fried cashewnuts, curry leaves and chopped ginger.

11. If you want a spicy rava pongal you can also use a teaspoon of chopped green chilly.

12. This goes well with coconut chutney.

KHARA PONGAL

Ingredients

·         Moong Daal 1 cup

·         Rice 1 cup

·         Cashewnuts 10-12 no

·         Cumin Seeds, Pepper Powder 1 tsp each

·         Chopped Green Chilli 3-4 no (depending on size and taste)

·         Dry Coconut Flakes 2 tbsp

·         Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp

·         Salt to taste

·         Water 3 to 3 1/2 cups 

Method

1.    Take a cooker and heat two tbsp of oil in it.

2.    Wash moong daal and the rice and keep it separately.

3.    Roast cashew in the oil and keep aside.

4.    Now, add mustard seeds and cummin seeds.

5.    When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add green chilli and fry for a few seconds.

6.    Now, add the moong daal and fry for a minute.

7.    Add water and the washed rice.

8.    Also add coconut, salt and turmeric powder.

9.    Close the cooker and allow it to whistle thrice.

10. After the cooker cools down, add the pepper powder, cashews and chopped cilantro leaves.

Note: You can use ghee instead of oil. Ghee gives a better taste.

RICE PONGAL

Ingredients

·         Raw Rice -300 gms

·         Moong Dal (yellow or green) 100 gms

·         Hing powder -Half tsp

·         Cummin Seeds- one or two tsp

·         Black pepper- 10 to 12

·         Cashew nuts-10 no

·         Ginger- 1 inch piece

·         Turmeric powder- half tsp (optional, if you like the colour)

·         Clarified Butter or liquified Ghee- four tbsp

·         Curry Leaves- 10 no (optional)

·         Salt- to taste

Method

1.    Heat Kadai. Dry roast rice and moong dal till they turn hot to touch.

2.    Transfer the rice and dal to a container and wash three times in fresh water.

3.    Add water four times the quantity of rice and dal and add salt.

4.    Pressure cook for four whistles.

5.    In a kadai dry roast cummin seeds and pepper for 2 minutes and powder coarsely.

6.    Chop the ginger finely and keep aside.

7.    Add one table spoon of ghee in the kadai and roast the cashew nuts(halved) till they turn light brown.

8.    Add ginger, powdered cummin seeds, hing powder, turmeric powder and curry leaves and roast for a minute.

9.    Take out the cooked rice and dal mix and mash well using a masher.

10. Add all the prepared ingredients and mix well with remaining ghee.

11. Rice Pongal is ready and can be served with coconut chutney.

Source of receipes: http://www.pongalfestival.org