Pongal recipes to please your palate!

As we honour our ploughmen and pay obeisance to the Sun God, here are a few Pongal recipes, soaked in tradition and flavoured with goodness, to help us celebrate the much revered and enjoyable harvest festival  

From time immemorial, the tradition of making Pongal has been associated with the harvest festival. The sight of the earthen pot overflowing with the rice delicacy and the sounds of ecstatic people shouting ‘Pongal O Pongal’ is an unparalleled experience.  

ELANEER PONGAL

Ingredients

• ½ kg Raw rice
• 2 Tender coconuts
• 100 gm Cashew nut
• ¼ cup Coconut milk
• 25 gm Black pepper
• 1tsp Ginger (chopped)
• 1 tsp Green chilli
• 1 twig Curry leaf
• 2 tbsp Ghee
• Salt

Method

1. Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.
2. Break tender coconut, separate water and flesh.
3. Boil the rice along with tender coconut water. When rice gets half done add coconut milk, chopped tender coconut flesh and salt. Allow to cook till it mashes.
4. In a kadai make a tempering out of ghee, pepper, ginger, green chilli, cashew nut and curry leaf.
5. Add the tempering into the mashed rice and mix well. Check seasoning and serve hot.

KALKANDU PONGAL

Ingredients

• ½ kg  Raw rice
• ¾ kg Palm sugar candy
• 100 gm Cashew nut
• 50 gm Raisins
• 2 tbsp Ghee
• 200 gm Split moong dal
• 2 Cardamom
• 100 ml Honey

Method

1. Wash and soak rice and spilt moong dal together.
2. Make syrup out of palm sugar candy and strain.
3. Fry cashew nut and raisins in ghee, keep aside.
4. Make cardamom powder.
5. Boil soaked rice and dal till half done. After that add strained syrup, cardamom powder, mix well cook till soft. Mash well.
6. Finally add honey, fried cashew, raisins along with ghee, mix well check sweetness and serve hot.

KARIVEPPILAI PONGAL

Ingredients

• ½ kg Raw rice
• 200 gm Split moong dal
• 50 gm Pepper
• 10 gm Cumin seeds
• 4 Green chillies
• 1” Ginger
• 100 gm Curry leaf
• 100 gm Cashew nuts
• 100 ml Ghee
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and soak rice and split moong dal together. Grind curry leaf, ginger, green chillies, cashew nut coarsely in the same dish.
2. Boil the soaked rice and dal along with salt till it gets mashed.
3. Heat the ghee in a kadai; add a little cumin seeds, pepper and cashew for tempering and allow splitting. Then add coarsely ground curry leaf paste and cook for 2 minutes.
4. After it gets cooked add it to the cooked rice and mix well. Check the seasoning and serve hot.

7 KAAI KOOTU (7 vegetable curry)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Oil
• ½ tsp Mustard
• ½ tsp Cumin seeds
• 3 Dry chillies
• 1 Onion
• 1 Tomato
• 5 Green chillies
• 1 twig Curry leaf
• 1 Raw banana
• 2 Brinjal
• 100 gm Cluster beans
• 2 Drumstick
• 2 Potato
• 150 gm Snake gourd
• 150 gm White pumpkin
• ¼ kg Spilt moong dal
• ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• ½ cup Grated coconut
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Clean and cut all the vegetables. Slice the onion and tomato.
2. Make a paste of coconut, green chilli and cumin. Boil the split moong dal.
3. Boil all the vegetables with onion, tomato, green chilli and turmeric till it gets cooked. Add ground coconut paste and mix well cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add boiled dal and salt. Mix well.
4. Heat oil, add mustard, cumin, red chilli and curry leaf, allow splitting. Add to the boiling gravy. Cook well for 2 minutes. Check the seasoning and serve hot.