Sweet Pongal (Dry Version)

If you are noticing the discrepancy between the title and the image, that is my doing. There are a few recipes where I can't beat my mother and this particular one is among them. As the title suggests, this pongal is not suppposed to be wet and mushy as the typical sweet pongal versions. This one is fairly dry and you must be able to notice each grain separately when done in the way it should be done. :) My mother cooks it to perfection but I have never been able to attain the required texture.
I had prepared it on Sankranthi day a couple of weeks ago and this time came closer to my mother's version and so thought of republishing it. It appears moist since I took the images soon after the preparation. It was dry after leaving it at room temperature for a couple of hours. The color of the pongal depends upon the jaggery used and my mother's version always looks darker. This pongal is very delicious but alas I can't prove the point with these images :)

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong dal 
1 cup jaggery powder
1/4 - 1/2 cup dry coconut, grated 
1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder 
Ghee as needed (You can be as generous as you can.)
1 Tbsp each cashews and raisins
2 ½ cups or a little less water

Method:
* Dry roast moong dal until you start to feel the aroma. No need to turn the moong dal red.
* Wash the rice thoroughly. Pressure cook both the rice and moongdal together adding water, until two whistles.
* Heat a pan / wok. Add jaggery and a tbsp of water to it and let it cook on a medium flame till you get the desired consistency.
The desired consistency is that you must be able to form a small ball when you put few drops of syrup into the water. For this purpose, keep a small plate with 2 Tbsp of water near the stove. If you are not able to form the ball out of the syrup and it just melts in the water, then syrup is not ready and you must keep boiling the syrup. It would be done in around 3 –4 minutes.
* After the syrup is ready, turn off the stove. Add the cooked rice - moongdal mixture, grated coconut, cardamom and mix well. You don’t have to cook further.
* Heat ghee in a small pan, toast the cashews and raisins and add to the pongal.

Note:
1. Coming to the ingredients measurements, there is no need to use the standard measuring cup. For this recipe, the ratio of Rice : Jaggery : Moong dal is always 2 : 2 : 1.
2. This pongal is supposed to be very dry and not mushy. I did use 2 & ½ cups of water to the 1 & ½ cups of rice and moongal mixture. It turned out good. I think 2 & ¼ cups of water will yield the right texture (like in my mom’s pongal).
3. Keeping cooked rice- dal mixture ready before preparing the jaggery syrup is a good idea. If you do the other way, the syrup becomes much thicker. 

Linking this to blogging marathon #12 under "delicious dals" theme. Check out the Blogging Marathon page to find out what other marathoners have been cooking.

My posts so far, under "Delicious Dals" theme are -
Masoor Dal Khichdi (Masoordal)
Dalia - Cilantro Chutney Podi (Dalia & Urad)
Chayote Kootu (Chana dal)
Alasanda - Vankaya Pulusu (Chori beans)

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