Food is an essential component for adorning the charm of any festivity. Good food tingles the taste buds and revitalizes the senses.
India is a melting pot for so many cultures and each culture has it's own charm and celebrations. Tamil Nadu and Kerala are famous for their harvest festival called Pongal. On this day, people make sumptuous delicacies and offer the same to the Sun God. There are some unique pongal festival food items each dish is infused with so much flavour and love. Festival and celebrations are incomplete without good food, and Sakkarai Pongal is no exception. Sakkarai Pongal is a simple and delicious recipe, prepared using rice, chana dal, grated coconut, roasted cashews, and raisins. This flavorsome delicacy makes for a perfect after meal delight. It is a must try for those who happen to have a sweet tooth and can't resist having Indian sweet dishes.
What is Sakkarai Pongal
Sweet Pongal is an integral part of the menu on Pongal Thirunaal (falls on January 14th this year) or Pongal day that is the most important day of the Pongal festivities. In many ways, this festival is a ‘thanksgiving’ to the Sun god for an abundant harvest and begins with cooking pongal in large earthen pots outdoors. The first Pongal of the year is usually a ‘paal pongal’ (Milk Pongal) where the first rice crop of the year is cooked with milk and a pinch of salt. Almost all homes cook the Ven Pongal (a popular breakfast item across Tamil Nadu) spiced with whole peppercorns and curry leaves and the sweet (Sakkarai) Pongal.
The Sakkarai Pongal recipe includes rice, chana dal, grated coconut, roasted cashews, and raisins.
‘Sakkarai’ is the Tamil word for sugar but oddly enough Sakkarai Pongal is usually cooked with jaggery and not sugar. The melting of the jaggery is the key process in this dish, which is blended with a rice and green gram mixture. Sakkarai pongal is traditionally made from freshly harvested rice, fresh ghee, and jaggery. It is flavored with spices like nutmeg, saffron, and cardamom. This is traditionally served as ‘naivedhyam’ or offering to Lord Vishnu in Hindu temples, and then distributed as ‘prasadham’ to the devotees. The jaggery syrup is made thick and caramelized, until it reaches a glossy burgundy color, and that lends a beautiful toffee-like taste and color to the cooked rice. Nutmeg and cardamom add heaps of complexity to the dish; the saffron lends amazing fragrance, while the addition of a pinch of edible camphor enhances the flavor of the sakkarai pongal.
Sweet Pongal is an integral part of the menu on Pongal Thirunaal (falls on January 14th this year) or Pongal day that is the most important day of the Pongal festivities. In many ways, this festival is a ‘thanksgiving’ to the Sun god for an abundant harvest and begins with cooking pongal in large earthen pots outdoors. The first Pongal of the year is usually a ‘paal pongal’ (Milk Pongal) where the first rice crop of the year is cooked with milk and a pinch of salt. Almost all homes cook the Ven Pongal (a popular breakfast item across Tamil Nadu) spiced with whole peppercorns and curry leaves and the sweet (Sakkarai) Pongal.
Sakkarai Pongal or sweet pongal is a very fulfilling and a hearty dessert. This is made on the most important day of the Tamilians, which is the Thai Pongal festival. Having spent most of my vacations in my grandparent’s village, this festival is very close to my heart and so is this dessert.
Nothing can substitute the aroma of freshly harvested rice, the fresh milk and tons and tons of Grandmother’s love.
Sweet Karam Coffee homemade food store is your one stop shop for traditional, mouthwatering snacks and sweets and snacks online. We have committed ourselves to making snacking healthy and delicious for all. Sakkarai Pongal is a treasured recipe that has been passed down to generations and now you can enjoy that taste and tradition, by ordering this lip smacking delicacy through Sweet Karam Coffee.
