Chakkara Pongal

Chakkara Pongal 

Ingredients:

Raw Rice / Pacharisi – 1 cup
Yellow Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu – ½ cup
Milk – 5 cups
Jaggery / Sarkarai / Vellam – 2 cup or to taste (grated)
Cashews – 3 tblspn
Sultanas / Kishmish – 3 tblspn
Cardamom / Yelakai – 5 pods
Ghee – ¼ cup
Coconut – ½ cup (optional)
Method:

Take 1 tsp of ghee and roast moong dal till nice aroma comes.. Remove on to a bowl.. Add rice to that and soak this both for around 15 mins.

Now drain it and put this in a pressure cooker along with milk and let it come to a boil..Now cover with a lid. Cook for 3 whistles or for 15-20 mins on low flame..Let the pressure go by itself. Remove it and mush it up with a spoon.

Meanwhile add 1 cup of water to jaggery and mix well, so that it gets dissolved..Pour this jaggery water over the cooked rice and dal through a sieve and mix well.

Take a kadai and add ghee in it. Add cashews, kishmish and cardamom in it and mix well..Fry till cashews turn light golden.

Now add the rice mixture in this and mix well..Stir for 5 mins on a low flame so that all flavours gets united. You could add some grated coconut at this point and mix well.

Remove it and serve..HAPPY PONGAL..

Notes:

1.You could cook the rice and dal in water and add a cup of thick milk later while adding jaggery water.

2. Drizzle some pure ghee over the finished pongal for more taste and flavour.

Pictorial:

Take all your ingrediants

First grated jaggery in a bowl

add water and mix well

heat a tsp of ghee

add moong dal

and fry lightly

remove to a bowl

add rice

and soak both together

drain it and put it in a pressure cooker

pour milk over it

and mix well

bring it to boil

cover and cook

untill cooked

now pour the jaggery over a sieve

and mix well

all mixed well

heat ghee

add cashews and sultanas

add rice over this

and mix well

cook for few more mins

and serve