Hope everyone is gearing up for the Pongal celebration. My son was born on Pongal and it makes the day even special. It is a 3 day festival and as a kid I enjoyed the Bhogi part the most. I used to tell my grandma to wake me up early in the morning before they light the bonfire for throwing away the old stuff and I used to enjoy watching it. Then, for Kaanum Pongal we used to go to Marina Beach that is a famous beach in Chennai. It is sometimes sad that my kids don’t get to enjoy these little things .

I made Sakkarai Pongal over the weekend just so I don’t have to deal with taking pictures on 14th. The recipe is from my mom. This time I did try with darkened jaggery, but it was still not dark enough . Oh well, it tasted great and we loved it. The normal Pongal menu at my house would be Ven Pongal, Sakkarai Pongal, Payasam, Methu vadai, Pacchadi, Sambar, Potato Fry and Rasam.

Ingredients
1/2 cup raw rice (I used sona masoori rice)
1.5 tbsp moong dal
1 cardamom pod
1 cup jaggery (use more for a sweeter version)
2 tsp ghee
Cashews and raisins

Method
Dry roast the moong dal until a nice aroma floats.

Take roasted moong dal, rice and cardamom pod in a vessel. Add water and pressure cook. (I used 2 cups of water).

Out of the pressure cooker. Mash it slightly and keep aside.

Bring to a boil and turn it off.

In a vessel, heat ghee and roast the cashews and raisins.

Remove the cashews and raisins and add the cooked rice-dal to the remaining ghee.

Add the jaggery water. Mix.

Add the cashews and raisins.

Mix to combine.

Sakkarai Pongal ready.

Enjoy!