Рецепт Sweet Pongal (Bellam Pongali)
The second dish I made for Sankranthi is this 'Sweet Pongal/ Bellam Pongali'. This recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin cookbook. Pongal, both sweet or savory, are traditionally made for Sankranthi.
My mom makes Chakkara pongali with a combination of jaggery and sugar, but this recipe uses all jaggery. The addition of cardamom, cloves and nutmeg makes this taste just like the ones served in the temples.
Ingredients:
- Green gram dal/ Pesarapappu/ Moong dal - ¼cup
- Rice - ½cup
- Milk - ½cup
- Jaggery - 1~1½cups, powdered (adjust as per taste)
- Cashews - 1tbsp
- Raisins - 1tbsp
- Ground cardamom - 1tsp
- Ground Cloves - ¼tsp
- Ground Nutmeg - ¼tsp
- Saffron - a few strands
Method:
Dry roast the green gram dal for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
Wash rice and dal together and place them in a pressure cooker along with 1¼cups of water and the milk. Cook without the whistle for 20~30 minutes on medium flame till rice and dal are tender. Pressure cooking with whistle might cause the milk to boil over, so pressure cook without the whistle.
Melt jaggery in ¼cup of water and simmer for a few minutes till the syrup thickens a little bit. Pour the syrup to cooked rice and dal. Simmer for a few minutes on medium-low flame. Turn off the heat.
Heat 2tbsp ghee in a small pan, add the cashews and raisins and fry till golden. Add this to the pongal.
Finally add the ground cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron. Mix well and serve!!