Pongal Recipes: Top 3 Special Recipes for The Pongal Festival

Like every festivity, Pongal is incomplete without food. People prepare a sweetened dish using rice, jaggery and lentils as a part of the customary celebrations this day.

Here are three unique varieties that you can try this year.

Rice and jaggery are an integral part of the Pongal festival.

Sweet Pongal by Chef Rana Dominic Gomes, Executive Chef, Hotel Royal Orchid

Ingredients
1/2 cup – Rice
1/2 cup – Moong dal
1/2 cup – Jaggery
2 and 1/2 cup – Water
3 tbsp – Ghee
A pinch — Salt
5 or 6 – Cashew nuts
2 tbsp – Raisins
1 – Cardamom
1 – Clove
A pinch – Edible camphor
Milk to moisten (optional)

See | Pongal 2017: 10 Beautiful Kolam Designs To Make This Harvest festival

Methods
* If using a pressure cooker/ pan, add 1/4 tsp ghee and roast the moong dal.

* Add water, washed rice and salt. Cook the rice and wait for 4 whistles. Mash it once done. (Or just boil Rice and Moong dal increase the quantity of water to 1 more cup).

* Grate the jaggery and heat it with water, just enough to immerse it and bring it to boil. Let the jaggery completely dissolve. Strain for any impurities in it and add it to the mashed rice.

* In a separate pan, heat a tsp of ghee and roast cashews till they are golden brown in colour and then add raisins to it. Once it fluffs up, transfer it and keep it aside. In the same pan, add cloves, cardamom and switch off the stove.

* Give a quick stir. Take out cardamom and crush it. Add the powdered cardamom, edible camphor, cloves along with nutmeg powder to the Pongal (rice mixture).

* Mix well and cook on medium flame for 5 mins. Add 1/4 cup water or milk if it gets dry while cooking. Add ghee little by little while cooking. Finally, add the fried cashews and raisins and serve.

Read | Pongal 2017: Tamil Harvest Festivals, Customs, Traditions, Significance, and Dates

Apart from sweet variant, try this salty option with lentils too.

Ven Pongal by Chef Vivek Kumar – Oxford Golf Resort, Pune

Ingredients
120g – Short Grain Rice (high starch)
100g – Moong Dal
400ml – Water
10 – Salt
1 tsp – Ginger (grated)
2 tbsp – Ghee
A pinch – Asafetida (Hing)
1 tsp – Cumin seeds
8 or 9 – Curry leaves
2 – Green chillies (Slit)
1 tsp – Grounded Black Pepper

Method
* Wash the rice and dry roast the moong dal in a pressure cooker until it is slightly fragrant.

* Add the rice and 4 cups of water, ginger and salt in the pressure cooker and cook it till it’s done.

* Once cool, open the pressure cooker and slightly mash the pongal so that it’s mushy (Here you might need more water to make it runny).

* Heat ghee in a pan. Once the ghee is hot, add cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves, green chillies and peppercorns and let them crackle for a few a seconds. Pour the spices over the pongal.

* Mix before serving and simmer for a minute. Serve hot.

The millet option is a healthy twist to your regular Pongal recipes

Millet Sweet Pongal by Monkey Box, Bengaluru

Ingredients
500g – Millet (bajra)
100g – Rice
40g – Cashew nut
400g – Jaggery
500ml – Milk
15g – Elaichi
150g – Coconut
3 tsp – Ghee

Method
* Add millet to boiling water and let it cook for 20 mins.

* Add rice and milk together and bring it to a boil. Now add the jaggery.

* Cook for at least 30 mins, stirring constantly.

* In a separate pan, heat ghee and sauté the raisins and cashew nuts.

* Add grated coconut, roasted raisins and cashews in the mixture and serve hot.