Sakkarai Pongal | Sweet Pongal
Sakkarai Pongal is a sweet porridge made using rice, moong dal, ghee and jaggery. It is a quintessential dish cooked during the harvest festival of ‘Pongal’ in southern India. It is also commonly offered as ‘prasdham’ to the god, especially Lord Balaji on festivities and auspicious occasions.
Sakkarai Pongal is quite an ancient and traditional dish and perhaps in existence since the time when jaggery or cane sugar was referred as ‘Sakkari’. Sakkarai means sugar in tamil, however this recipe does not make use of white sugar, so this perhaps explains it ancient roots!
Ven Pongal and Sakkarai Pongal are dishes that are generally made and served in pair. Ven pongal is a savoury version of pongal which is made using rice and moong dal and tempered with ghee, cumin seeds, peppercorns and curry leaves.
There are various ways of making sweet pongal. For instance, during the harvest festival of Pongal, we traditionally make this dish by boiling rice and dal in brass pot along with some water and milk and then add the jaggery. However this is a bit time consuming as the rice takes longer to cook, so I am sharing a simple method of cooking the pongal in pressure cooker which is the method that we commonly follow for occasions other than Pongal festival.
This recipe is not one pot dish though, as only the rice and dal is first pressure cooked, and the jaggery syrup is made separately and the cooked rice is added to it. The biggest advantage of this method is that you could make both Ven pongal and Sakkari pongal in one-go as the base for both the dishes is cooked rice and moong dal.
Just like most Indian desserts or sweet dishes, sakkarai pongal also tastes best when cooked with a generous amount of ghee. Sakkari pongal is typically flavoured with cardamom powder and edible camphor. Some people also use some nutmeg in addition to these two ingredients. However, back at home here we are not a big fan of the edible camphor as it could be a bit over-powering, so we just make use of cardamom powder for the flavouring. Feel free to use any of these flavouring ingredients as per your liking.
Some tips for delicious sweet pongal
The moong dal is to be initially dry roasted till it changes colour and turns aromatic. It is to be then cooked along with rice.
The rice and moong dal are to be cooked well till they are almost mushy.
Use a good quality and sweet jaggery for this recipe. This recipe turns out best with dark coloured jaggery which is also known as ‘Paagu Vellam’ in Tamil, so try to find this specific variety while making the dish.
Be generous with ghee, as it adds a wonderful flavour to this dish.
Serving Suggestion
Sakkarai Pongal tastes best when served hot. It can be eaten as a dessert by itself. It is also typically paired with the savoury Ven pongal and sambar/ chutney which makes it a complete meal.
Sakkarai Pongal | Sweet Pongal
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup Raw Rice
- ⅓ cup Yellow Split Moong Dal
- 2 cups Jaggery grated
- 6 tbsp Ghee
- ½ cup Milk
- 8 Cashewnuts
- 8 Raisins optional
- ½ tsp Cardamom Powder
Instructions
- Dry roast the moong dal in a pan on medium flame till it turns slightly golden brown and aromatic.
- Wash the roasted moong dal along with the rice and pressure cook with 4 cups of water for 5-6 whistles. The ratio of water and the cook time could vary depending on type of rice used. I have used Sona Masuri raw rice.
- Slightly mash the rice.
- Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of ghee in a heavy bottom pan or kadai and roast the cashews and raisins till it is slightly golden brown. Transfer the cashews and raisins to a separate bowl.
- Now in the same kadai, add the jaggery and 0.5 cup of water of melt the jaggery. It need not come to boiling point.
- Filter the jaggery syrup and rinse the kadai in water once to get rid of any impurities. Add the jaggery syrup back to the kadai and bring it to a boil. You could add additional 1/2 cup of water if the jaggery syrup is too thick.
- When the jaggery comes to a rolling boil, simmer the flame and add the cooked rice and dal. Mix well so that there are no lumps. Add around 2 to 3 tablespoons of ghee as well.
- Add around 0.5 cup of milk and cook on low flame for around 4-5 minutes till everything is incorporated well
- Finally add the remaining ghee, roasted cashews and raisins and cardamom powder and mix well. Serve hot.
Notes
- It is preferred to use the dark variety of jaggery (paagu vellam in Tamil) for an enhanced taste and colour.
- Filter the jaggery syrup to get rid of any impurities.
- Note that the jaggery must be brought just to a rolling boil and not cooked further, else it could turn hard and the consistency of pongal would not be correct.
- Roasting of moong dal is a key step as it enhances the flavour and aroma.
- The rice and dal must be cooked thoroughly else it would not blend well with jaggery.
- Adjust the amount of water or milk to get the right consistency towards the end.
- Be generous with ghee for this recipe.
