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Sweet Pongal Recipe | Festive Sweets Recipe

This special sweet pongal is prepared especially during Makara Sankranti. Most popular recipe of South India.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Karnataka
Servings: 4 people
Author: Sumana

Ingredients

  • Raw rice- 1/4 cup
  • Split green gram lentil(moong dal) - 1/8 cup
  • Powdered Jaggery- 1/2 cup
  • Grated coconut or copra- Fistful
  • Ghee-3 tbsp cup
  • Cashew+raisins- Handful
  • Cardamom- 2 no.
  • Edible camphor- A pinch
  • Nutmeg powder- A pinch(optional)

Instructions

Preparation

  • De-seed cardamom and powder it finely using mortar and pestle. Keep it ready.
  • Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a seasoning pan and fry cashews, raisins and grated coconut one after the other. Cashews and coconut change in color and raisins puff up after frying. If you are using copra, then not need of roasting.
    how to make sweet pongal

Method

  • Take the split green lentils in a wide pan or wok and roast them till aromatic in medium flame. The lentils turn brown and aroma wafts out within few minutes. Switch off the flame then.
    How to make sweet pongal step 1
  • Rinse raw rice in enough water and add it to cooker along with roasted green lentils. Add around 1.5 cups of water and cook for 3 whistles and 5 minutes in simmer.
    how to make sweet pongal step 2
  • When the pressure subsides, open the lid and roughly mash cooked rice, lentils using back of ladle and keep it ready. Meanwhile heat jaggery powder in heavy bottom wok with 1/4 cup of water. The jaggery dissolves and starts bubbling.
    how to make sweet pongal step3
  • Now mix the cooked rice and lentils with jaggery syrup. Add some water and cook for few minutes. Include ghee roasted cashews, raisins and grated coconut or copra. Add cardamom powder, camphor and nutmeg powder too. Pour remaining ghee and combine everything together.
    how to make sweet pongal step4
  • Divine tasting sweet pongal is ready to serve.
    sweet pongal #Pongal festive recipe

Notes

  • Do not let the green lentils to burn when roasting. Keep stirring to avoid burning.
  • Do not skip pinch of edible camphor powder as it adds extra flavor.
  • Sweet pongal has the tendency to become thicker with time, so make sure it is of running consistency initially.
  • You can chop coconut in to bite sized pieces too instead of grating it.
  • I have added only half cup of jaggery as we don't have sweet teeth, but I recommend 3/4 to 1 cup of jaggery for the genuine taste.