Sarkarai Pongal, a traditional sweet rice made during the festival of Pongal, harvest festival of Tamilnadu.

The Pongal Festival

Pongal, the harvest festival celebrated in Tamilnadu. The 4-day festival, celebrated by South-Indians, all over the globe, usually falls on January 14, almost every year. Pongal also marks the solar equinox, beginning of summer days, when the sun travels northward, marking the beginning of summer months.

THE FOOD

With every festival , there is certain kind of food involved. With Pongal being the harvest festival, the food is made with freshly harvested crop and vegetables. Cooking on Pongal day involves lot of locally grown, country vegetables. This also promotes local food and eating seasonal food, which nourishes our body for the season.

How to make Sarkarai Pongal

Sarkarai pongal means sweet rice, made with rice and dal, sweetened with jaggery. Jaggery is known as Nattu Sarkarai/country sugar, that's why the name sarkarai pongal.

Take rice and dal, dry roast until golden. Cook the roasted rice and dal with milk and water. Rice and dal signifies abundance, cooking it with milk, brings out the richness in the dish. If vegan, you can opt for any plant-based milk or just use water instead.

Add melted and strained jaggery to soft cooked rice-dal. Flavor the pongal with cardamom and edible camphor. Garnish it with ghee roasted cashewnuts. Thats it sarakarai pongal is ready. Offer the pongal to the sun god, thank him for the food and enjoy it with your friends and family.

If you are looking for alternate grain to rice to cook pongal, millets would be a great choice. I have a Thinai Sarkarai Pongal recipe in the blog, you can also check this Broken wheat Sarkarai Pongal.

Sarakarai Pongal | Sweet Rice Recipe | Sweet Pongal Recipe

Sarakarai Pongal, a traditional sweet rice made during the festival of Pongal, harvest festival of Tamilnadu.

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert, Festival

Cuisine: Asian, Indian, South-Indian

Keyword: How to make pongal, How to make sweet pongal, Pongal festival, Sankaranthi recipe, Sarkarai pongal recipe, Sweet pongal recipe

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 40

Total Time: 45

Servings:

Calories:

Ingredients

½ cup raw rice
¼ cup moong dal
1&½ cup milk
1&½ cup water
½ cup powdered jaggery
4 tablespoon ghee
Cashews and raisins for garish

Instructions

In a Heavy-bottom Pan, roast rice and dal together. It gives out a nice aroma while roasting.
Once done, add milk and water, and simmer the flame. Let the Rice and dal get cooked well. to a mushy state. If vegan, use plant-based milk or just use water entirely
Melt jaggery in ¼ cup water and strain for impurities. Add the jaggery and mix well.
When the jaggery mixes well with rice and dal, add ghee and mix well. Once the all the liquid is absorbed. Take it off the flame.
In another pan, add some ghee and roast cashews and raisins and add it to the pongal. Serve it warm.

To make it in Pressure Cooker

To make the recipe in the pressure cooker. Just mix rice and dal. Add the required liquid(milk-water mixture) to it and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles.
Let the pressure come down on its own. Melt jaggery in water and strain for impurities. Now take the cooked rice-dal back to stove, add jaggery water to it.
Let the jaggery mix well with the rice-dal mixture. Add ghee to the pongal. Once all the liquid is absorbed, take it off the stove.
In another pan, add some ghee and roast cashews and raisins and add it to the pongal. Serve it warm.

Disclaimer

I m not a Doctor or a Nutritionist The Nutrition information provided above comes from the plugin and is only an estimate.

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Serve this delicious sarkarai pongal warm. Sarkarai pongal can also be made as a dessert for other occassions in the family. They are a great make-ahead dessert.

Other Pongal Festival Recipes

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An old post from September 2010, updated with new pictures and content for better engagement.

Sarkarai Pongal|Sweet Rice Recipe|Pongal Recipe

The Pongal Festival

THE FOOD

How to make Sarkarai Pongal