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Sakkarai pongal
சர்க்கரை பொங்கல்: sweet rice and moong dal cooked with jaggery, ghee and cardamom for the Pongal harvest festival
On the morning of Thai Pongal in mid-January, families across Tamil Nadu cook new-harvest rice in a clay pot in the courtyard and wait for the milk to bubble over: 'pongalo pongal!'. That pot becomes sakkarai pongal, a sticky, golden-brown sweet of rice and moong dal cooked soft, then simmered with melted jaggery and finished with lots of ghee, cardamom, edible camphor and cashews and raisins fried golden. It's also the classic prasadam at Vishnu temples. It's the sweet twin of the peppery ven pongal. Chef's tip: dry-roast the moong dal until it smells nutty before cooking; it adds a toasty depth that plain boiled dal can't give.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the pongal
To finish
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Dry-roast 1 ⅜ oz split yellow moong dal in a heavy pan over a medium-low heat for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until it turns light golden and smells nutty. Add 5 ½ oz short-grain raw rice and rinse both together.
4 minStep 2: Cook rice and dal with 1 cup milk and 2 ½ cups water in a heavy pan over a low heat, partly covered, for 25–30 minutes (or 4–5 whistles in a pressure cooker), stirring often towards the end, until very soft and easily mashed. Mash lightly with a ladle.
30 minStep 3: Meanwhile, melt 9 oz jaggery in ½ cup water over a low heat until dissolved, then strain it through a sieve to remove grit.
5 minStep 4: Pour the jaggery syrup into the rice, add 1 pinch salt and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, for 5–7 minutes until it thickens and glistens. Common mistake: adding jaggery while the rice is still firm; the sugar stops the grains softening further and the pongal stays chalky. Make sure the rice is fully mushy first.
7 minStep 5: Heat 2 ⅞ oz ghee in a small pan over a medium-low heat. Fry ⅔ oz cashews until golden, then ⅔ oz raisins until they puff, about 1 minute in all. Pour the ghee, cashews and raisins into the pongal.
2 minStep 6: Stir in 4 green cardamom, and 1 pinch grated nutmeg and 1 pinch edible camphor (pachai karpooram) if using. Cook for 1 more minute; it should be soft and spoonable, and it firms up as it cools, so take it off while still a little loose. Serve warm.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 66 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sakkarai pongal take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of short-grain raw rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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