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PONGAL RECIPES


PONGALOur Pongal Recipe section contains a variety of traditional Pongal recipes. Pongal is the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu. It is an occasion to indulge in food and be merry. Pongal is celebrated during the first four days of the Tamil Month of Thai (Mid January to Mid February). It is a popular harvest festival in Tamil Nadu. Sweet Pongal made of Jaggery or palm sugar with rice and mong dal is delicacy during this festival. Ven Pongal or Khara Pongal made of rice, mong dal and spices like pepper and jeera is a must for the not-so-sweet-mouthed.

Pongal literally means "boiling over". This festival is the biggest event of the year for the Tamilians around the world when they thank the sun god for the good produce. The four day festival consists of Bhogi-Pongal, Surya-Pongal, Mattu-Pongal and Kanyapongal. On the first day which is called the Bhogi Pongal the day begins with a til or sesame oil bath. In the evening a huge bonfire of old clothes, files, mats and rugs is made, it is a day to get rid of old stuff at home as well as old and rugged thoughts in mind. The day is devoted to the Rain god, Indran (Bhogi). Surya-Pongal, the second day is dedicated to the Sun god, Surya . Women boil Pongal, which is rice cooked in milk and jaggery and offer it to the Sun on this day. The third day is dedicated to honour and worship the cattle which were helpful in agriculture and is called as Mattu-Pongal. The cattle are bedecked with turmeric and kumkum on their horns and small bells and flowers are hung around their necks. They are then paraded in the streets and given Pongal to eat.

On the last day which is Kanya-Pongal people visit their relatives or go on small picnics for the river banks.

Hope our Pongal recipes would help you to prepare some important pongal dishes with ease and relish them.

Pongalo- Pongal!!!

AVAL PAYASAMvegetarian-Dish

Ingredients

  • ½ cup aval
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup ghee
  • 1-½ cup milk
  • Cashew nuts and Raisins
  • Cardamom powder
Aval payasam

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 vegetarian-Dish

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)
Chakara Pongal

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 vegetarian-Dish

Ingredients

      
  • Moong dal 1 cup
  • Powdered jaggery 1 cup
  • Gram dal 1 spoon
Dal Payasam

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.

MURUKKUvegetarian-Dish

Ingredients

      
  • Raw rice 4 cups
  • White gram half cup
  • White sesame seeds 25 gm
  • Cumin seeds 25 gm
  • Asafoetida powder 2 tablespoons
  • Butter 100 gm
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for frying
Murukku

Method

  • Wash and clean the rice.
  • Allow it to dry.
  • When it gets dried completely, grind to make it powdery.
  • Fry the gram. Grind it in the same way and keep it aside.
  • Mix the powdered rice, powdered gram, white sesame seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida powder, butter and salt together.
  • Take a little of this mixture and add water to make a dough-like consistency.
  • Now twist and roll this dough to make Jalebi-like circular shapes of the Murukku (chakkli).
  • Heat the oil in a pan.
  • Test how hot it is by dropping a pinch of dough into it.
  • If the drop springs to the top with bubbles all around it, then the oil is just ready to fry the Murukku.
  • Deep-fry the Murukku gently into the hot oil and fry golden brown.
  • Take out from the pan when it is done and drain it in a newspaper to discard the excess oil in it.
  • When it becomes a little cold but still crisp, store them in an airtight container and savour it with hot tea or coffee.

SAGO VERMICELLI PAYASAM vegetarian-Dish

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
Sago Vermicelli Payasam

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.

SAKKARAI PONGAL vegetarian-Dish

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
Sakkarai Pongal

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 PONGALvegetarian-Dish

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
Venn Pongal

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.

KATHIRIKAI MASIYAL vegetarian-Dish

Ingredients

  • Brinjal - 5 small size
  • Green Chillies - 5
  • Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size
  • Salt - To Taste

  • For Seasoning:

  • Oil - 1 teaspoon
  • Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • Curry leaves - few
  • Hing - A Pinch
  • Fenugeek Seeds/Vendhayam - 1/4 teaspoon
Kathirikai Masiyal

Method

  • Finely chop the brinjals and green chillies.
  • Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice.
  • Pour the oil in pan, and add the mustard seeds once the oil is hot. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, then add the curry leaves,fenugeek seeds and hing
  • Add the chopped brinjal and green chillies and fry for sometime
  • Add the tamarind extract and add salt. Once the tamarind boils and the raw smells goes off, then switch off the flame.
  • The Kathirikai Masiyal consistency will be thin and it is the best sidedish for Venn Pongal.

PARUPPU VADAI vegetarian-Dish

Ingredients

  • Kadalai Parupu(Channa Dhal) - 3/4 cup
  • Urdhal - 2 table spoon
  • Thur Dhal - 2 table spoon
  • Green Chilli - 2 Nos
  • Ginger - 1 table spoon
  • Curry leaves - Few
  • Coriander Leaves - Few
  • Onion finely chopped- 1/2 Cup(Optional. Some people dont add
  • onion on auspicious day)
  • Salt - To taste
  • Hing - A Pinch
  • Oil - For Frying the Vadai
Paruppu Vadai

Method

    • Mix all the dhals and Soak the dhals in water for 3 hours
    • After 3 hours filter the water and keep the dhal for 1 more hour
    • After an hour, Keep 3 table spoon of the dhal separately in a bowl and grind the remaining dhal with salt and a pinch of hing without adding water.
    • Add the above ground mixture with the 3 table spoon of the dhals in a bowl along with green chilli, onion, ginger, curry leaves and coriander leaves.
    • Heat the oil in a kadai and once the oil is hot, make small rounds of ground dhal and press it in the center and put it in the oil and deep fry it.
    • Once the Vadai becomes brownish color take it out in a bowl with a paper towel to dry the oil and serve hot.