Sakkarai Pongal

Sakkarai Pongal is a south indian delicacy made with rice, moong dhal, jaggery and ghee. This is usually made as prasadam on auspicious days and for sure on Pongal Festival.

Serves 4
Ingredients Required:
Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dhal - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 1/4 cup + 2 tblsp
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 2 tsp

How to make:
Saute the moong dhal in a tblsp of ghee till nice aroma rises.
Cook the rice and moong dhal with 5 cups of water in instant pot for 10 minutes or pressure cooker for 3 whistles.
In a pan, add 1/4 of water along with jaggery and allow to melt. Heat till you get one string consistency.
Add the cooked rice and dhal with the jaggery and mix well along with cardamon.
In another small pan, roast the cashews in a tblsp of ghee till golden brown.
Add this to the pongal and mix well.
Heat the remaining ghee and mix well with pongal. You can reserve some ghee and add it on the top just before serving.

Notes:
The taste of the pongal depends on the quality of the jaggery. I have had days where the pongal was whitish in color due to jaggery.
Always get dark brown colored jaggery and not the pale ones.
Get paagu jaggery for best results.
Quantity of ghee can be adjusted based on your taste. Usually the pongal served in temples will have much more ghee.
Adjust the jaggery quantity based on the sweetness.

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