Chakkara Pongal or sweet Pongal is a traditional Tamil Nadu delicacy prepared during the harvest festival, Pongal. A mixture of rice and split green gram lentils is cooked to perfection in milk, and then simmered in melted jaggery. This particular recipe has used brown rice in the place of raw rice.
Ingredients:
- Brown rice – 1 cup
- Split green gram dal – ½ cup
- Jaggery – ¾ cup to 1 cup, adjust according to sweetness
- Clarified butter – 2 tbsp + 3 tbsp
- Cashews – 1 tbsp, roughly broken
- Golden raisins – ½ tbsp
- Powdered cardamom – 1 tsp
- Milk – 3 cups
How To Prepare:
- Wash brown rice thoroughly under running water and soak for about 40 minutes.
- Wash split green gram dal and drain well.
- In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp of clarified butter.
- Add drained green gram dal and roast until golden brown.
- Add rice and dal to a large vessel and add milk. Cover the vessel.
- Pressure cook for 6 to 7 whistles so that the mixture can be mashed easily.
- Once the pressure subsides, remove the rice and dal mixture from the cooker and keep aside.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, melt jaggery with a little water.
- Add 2 tbsp clarified butter to the melted jaggery. Let the mixture boil for a minute.
- Mash the rice and dal mixture thoroughly.
- Add the rice and dal to the melted jaggery and simmer until mixture turns semi-solid.
- Meanwhile, in a small sautéing pan, heat rest of the clarified butter and roast cashews and raisins.
- Mix in cardamom powder and roasted cashews and raisins to the Pongal and serve hot.
