Chakkarai Pongal/ Sweet Pongal

Wish you all a very happy Pongal!

Hope you all had a wonderful Pongal. As a girl from a very small town, and my dad being an agriculturalist, I should have known better about this harvest festival. But unfortunately, I did not get to celebrate pongal the traditional way before marriage. Mom always, cooked pongal in a pressure cooker. Pongal was just like any other day with an exception of having sweet pongal along with breakfast. But never the less, mom's pongal was out of the world. She makes it with milk and a lot of ghee.

Pongal is celebrated more traditionally in my in-laws place and I really like the whole arrangement. My Mother-in-law makes pongal in a traditional way, outside the house using a brick stove. So, after marriage, I started celebrating pongal more traditionally. Though I do not get to use a brick stove to make pongal, I do not use pressure cooker to make pongal.

Ingredients: Raw Rice- 2 cups Moon Dhal - 3/4 th cup Water - 7 cups + more if needed Powdered Cradamom - 1 teaspoon Jaggery - 2 cups packed Ghee - 3 tablespoons Edible Camphor - a pinch Cashew + Dried Grapes - 1 tablespoon Method Wash the rice and moong dhal once and drain the water. Wash it again with 7 cups and save the water.  Heat the saved water in a cooking pot. You will start seeing a frothy portion in the top. Wait till it starts coming out of the pot. (This is when we say Pongalo pongal) Now, add the rice and moong dhal. and let it cook till they cook well. Meanwhile have additional hot water ready and add it to the rice and dhal mixture as and when needed to cook it well and mushy. Once it becomes mushy add Jaggery. Mix well, add cardamon, edible camphor and give it a good mix. Pongal, at this point will look a little watery. But will thicken up once cooled down. Garnish with ghee roasted cashews and raisins.