Pongal is a traditional harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in India, Sri Lanka and other parts of the world. It is usually observed in mid-January, when the sun enters the sign of Capricorn, marking the end of winter solstice and the start of the sun's northward journey. The festival is named after the dish pongal, which means "to boil over" and symbolizes abundance and prosperity. Pongal is made with rice and moong dal cooked in milk and sweetened with jaggery or sugar. It is offered to the sun god, Surya, and other deities as a thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest.
There are two main types of pongal: sweet pongal (sakkarai pongal) and savory pongal (ven pongal or khara pongal). Sweet pongal is flavored with cardamom, ghee, cashews, raisins and coconut. Savory pongal is tempered with ghee, cumin, pepper, ginger, curry leaves and asafoetida. Both versions are served with coconut chutney, sambar or gotsu.
Pongal is also known as huggi in Karnataka, where it is prepared with slightly different ingredients and methods. Karnataka style khara pongal is spicier than the Tamil version and uses mustard seeds, green chilies and grated coconut. Karnataka style sweet pongal uses more ghee and coconut than the Tamil version and does not use cardamom.
Here are some recipes for making pongal in Bengaluru style:
Khara Pongal
- Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup raw rice
- 1/2 cup moong dal
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- A pinch of asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp crushed pepper
- 8-10 cashews
- 1-2 green chilies, chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
- 8-10 curry leaves
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- Salt to taste
- Method:
- Dry roast the moong dal in a pressure cooker until aromatic. Do not brown it.
- Add the rice to the roasted dal and wash them well.
- Add 4-5 cups of water and salt and pressure cook for 5 whistles on medium flame.
- Once the pressure releases, open the cooker and mash the rice and dal slightly.
- In a small pan, heat ghee and add mustard seeds (if using), cumin seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida, pepper, cashews, green chilies, ginger and curry leaves. Fry until the cashews turn golden.
- Pour this tempering over the cooked rice and dal mixture and mix well.
- Add grated coconut and mix again.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar.
Sweet Pongal
- Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup raw rice
- 1/4 cup moong dal
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 1/2 cup jaggery, grated or powdered
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- A pinch of salt
- A pinch of cardamom powder (optional)
- 8-10 cashews
- 8-10 raisins
- Method:
- Dry roast the moong dal in a pressure cooker until aromatic. Do not brown it.
- Add the rice to the roasted dal and wash them well.
- Add enough water to cover them and pressure cook for 5 whistles on medium flame.
- Once the pressure releases, open the cooker and mash the rice and dal slightly.
- In a small pan, heat jaggery and water until it dissolves completely. Strain it to remove any impurities.
- Add this jaggery syrup to the cooked rice and dal mixture and mix well.
- Add grated coconut, salt and cardamom powder (if using) and mix again.
- In another small pan, heat ghee and fry cashews until golden. Add raisins and let them puff up.
- Pour this over the sweet pongal and mix well.
- Serve hot or cold.
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