Here’s a very easy recipe for sweet pongal. Traditionally made to celebrate the festival of Pongal in India, we enjoy this on any cold, winter day. Delicious!!
- 1/2 cup rice
- 3 tbsp split green lentil (moong dal)
- 1/2 cup grated jaggery
- 3-4 tbsp cashews
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- Pinch of saffron
- 1 cup milk
- 1-2 tbsp dried raisins
Wash the lentils and rice together and pressure cook with one cup milk and a half cup of water for 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, then cook it on the stove top till the rice and lentils are well blended. It will take longer and may require you to add more milk. While the rice and lentils are cooking, heat two table spoons of ghee and fry tue cashews and raisins for a couple of minutes. Add the saffron and the cardamom powder and remove from the heat. Then add the jaggery to the cooked lentil-rice mixture, mix really well and finally stir in the cashews and the raisins along with the saffron, cardamom scented ghee. Enjoy!
[...] 1 – COOK! I’m a big believer in every celebration coming with good food. Maybe you’ve got the time and you can make the entire traditional meal of your family. Go for it! Maybe you’ve got more desire than energy – don’t worry about it. Make one dish, your favorite, your husband’s favorite, the easiest. Even just one meal that commemorates the holiday can make it something special to share with the kids from baby to teenager. Don’t have any recipies to use? Try this kid-friendly version of Pongal. [...]