Sweet Pongal (Bellam Pongali)

The second dish I made for Sankranthi is this 'Sweet Pongal/ Bellam Pongali'. This recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin cookbook. Pongal, both sweet or savory, are traditionally made for Sankranthi.

My mom makes Chakkara pongali with a combination of jaggery and sugar, but this recipe uses all jaggery. The addition of cardamom, cloves and nutmeg makes this taste just like the ones served in the temples.

Ingredients:

Green gram dal/ Pesarapappu/ Moong dal - ¼cup 

Rice - ½cup
Milk - ½cup
Jaggery - 1~1½cups, powdered (adjust as per taste)
Cashews - 1tbsp
Raisins - 1tbsp
Ground cardamom - 1tsp
Ground Cloves - ¼tsp
Ground Nutmeg - ¼tsp
Saffron - a few strands

Method:

• Dry roast the green gram dal for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
• Wash rice and dal together and place them in a pressure cooker along with 1¼cups of water and the milk. Cook without the whistle for 20~30 minutes on medium flame till rice and dal are tender. Pressure cooking with whistle might cause the milk to boil over, so pressure cook without the whistle.
• Melt jaggery in ¼cup of water and simmer for a few minutes till the syrup thickens a little bit. Pour the syrup to cooked rice and dal. Simmer for a few minutes on medium-low flame. Turn off the heat.
• Heat 2tbsp ghee in a small pan, add the cashews and raisins and fry till golden. Add this to the pongal.
• Finally add the ground cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron. Mix well and serve!!

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: January -- Week 3'.