Sakkarai Pongal (Sweet dish with Jaggery, Rice and Lentil)
I was cooking Sakkarai Pongal for my friend's belated birthday treat and decided to write my recipe here on my blog. I remember amma cooking this in vangalapanai, and then later in a normal patharam. During Pongal amma will string/ tie a few manjal (turmeric) root and leaf around the narrow neck of the vengalapanai and we would all shout 'pongalo pongal' when the water and milk comes to boil on top (this was till we were probably 10-12 years). I prefer payasam to sakkarai pongal, but all my family loves sakkarai pongal and vadai. Here is the recipe - Rice : 1 cup split yellow green gram dal: ½ cup Jaggery: 2 cups Milk: 1 cup Ghee : 4 tbsp or more Cashew nuts : a few Cardamom powder: 1 tsp Combine milk with 3 cups of water and heat, so they mix well together. Add rice, dal and milk mixture in a cooker and cook it completely (soft dal) done. Meantime, melt jaggery in 1 cup of water. Strain for impurities. You can use a tea filter for straining. Mash the cooked ...