Pongal Recipes

Aval Payasam Ingredients : ½ cup aval ¾ cup sugar ¼ cup ghee 1-½ cup milk Cashew nuts and Raisins Cardamom powder

Method : Fry the aval in ¼ cup ghee nicely and boil the same in 1-½ cup milk and once it boils nicely add sugar to it. In a separate pan fry cashewnuts, raisins in golden brown colour and add to the above payasam. Add cardamom powder to the payasam once when it is done and you turn off the stove. Ready to serve.

Chakara Pongal Ingredients : 1 cup rice ¼ cup moong dal ½ cup jaggery 2 cups milk 1 cup ghee 4 cloves 1 tsp nutmeg powder ¼ cup cashews ¼ cup golden raisins 2 elaichi edible camphor (optional) Method : Roast moong dal in a pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Cook rice, moong dal, milk and 3 cups of water till the rice gets cooked. Melt jaggery, by boiling it with little water, and mix this with the cooked rice. Put ghee and keep stirring until everything blends well. Fry cashews, raisins and cloves in little ghee and add this to the above. Pound elaichis, and edible camphor, nutmeg, and add this to the payasam.

Dal Payasam Ingredients:

Ingredients (Serves 2) Moong dal 1 cup Powdered jaggery 1 cup Gram dal 1 spoon Method : Cook moong dal and gram dal in plain water in a pressure cooker. Mix jaggery in a little water and bring to boil. Add the cooked dal mixture and let it cook for a while so that the entire ingredients mix well. Then take it out from flame and add cardamom powder. Garnish the cooked dal payasam with cashew nuts (preferably roasted in ghee) and serve hot or cold.

Sakkarai Pongal Ingredients : ½ cup raw rice 1 tbsp green gram dal 1 cup sugar 8 cashewnuts 3 cardamom pods, powdered a little saffron 5 tbsp ghee 1 pinch refined camphor (edible) a few pinches nutmeg powder 8-10 kismis 1 cup milk ½ cup coconut gratings Method : Roast green gram dal lightly, till it smells. Soak in water with rice for at least 15 minutes. Put 2 cups of diluted milk and 1 tbsp ghee to the soaked rice-cum-dal mix. Pressure cook for 8 minutes. Roast cashewnut bits with 4 tbsp ghee in frying pan, on a low flame. Put kismis, and stir. Add coconut gratings and roast till it turns golden yellow. Prepare sugar syrup of thread consistency in a vessel. Combine the cooked rice plus dal with it, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes on medium flame. Put the cashewnut and coconut mixture. Then put camphor (edible), jajikai (nutmeg), cardamom and saffron. Turn over thoroughly, and serve.

Venn Pongal Ingredients : 2 cups rice ½ cup moong dal a small pinch hing curry leaves

cashews ½ tsp pepper ½ tsp cumin seeds a small piece ginger, finely chopped ½ tsp ghee 1 tsp salt Method : Cook rice, moong dal and haldi powder with extra water and keep it aside. Sauté pepper, cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves, and ginger in 2 tsp ghee, and add this to the above pongal. Fry cashews in 1 tsp ghee and add to the above. Add salt and remaining ghee and mix all the ingredients properly.

Sago Vermicelli Payasam Ingredients : 1 cup sago 2 cup water ½ cup vermicelli 1½ cup milk 1 cup sugar 3 tbsp ghee 3 cardamom pods cashew nuts raisins Method : Soak the sago in water for an hour. Boil it with water. Stir constantly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan, until it becomes translucent. Lower the heat and leave it for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Heat the ghee in a pan. Fry the cashew nuts & cardamom pods in it. Put vermicelli and fry until it becomes golden brown. Add this to the Boiling sago. Then put sugar, milk & raisins. Stir for few minutes until the sugar gets dissolves. Ready to serve.