Pongala Payasam

Google introduced me recently to the 'Ponkala' or 'Pongala' festival when I was trying to compile a list of Indian festivals celebrated during this month. It turns out that it has nothing to do with the 'Pongal' festival of Tamil nadu though it sounds similar. The Pongala festival happens to be an important religious celebration at the Bhagavathy temple in Attukal, Trivandrum in the south Indian state of Kerala. It is celebrated for 10 days during the months of February - March to pray the presiding deity of the temple, Attukal Devi. The temple is renowned for this annual celebration where a large section of women participate to pray goddess Attukul Devi, who they believe would fulfill all their wishes. In fact, 3.5 million women participated in 2009 in the celebration, thereby setting a Guinness Book of World Record for being the single largest gathering of women for a religious activity. 

Millions of women gather around the temple and prepare 'Pongala' in the open in new earthen pots to please the Goddess. Pongala (literally means to boil over) is a ritualistic offering of the sweet rice pudding prepared in the temple premises to the Goddess. This payasam doesn't use milk or moong dal as the standard sweet pongal versions do. Wiki mentions that the pongala payasam is prepared with a special payasam rice called as puzhungalari, jaggery, coconuts, raisins, nuts and other ingredients. We prepare the standard version pongal at home using those ingredients and I got curious about 'the other ingredients' there until I came across this interesting pongla payasam version. It had bananas and bay leaves in it and I therefore decided to give it a try. I am already a fan of sweet pongal but I must say that I am sold out to this version of sweet pongal. It is hard to notice the banana flavor individually in the recipe but it lends an extra layer of sweetness to the dish. If you are looking for a new version of sweet pongal, try it out. You would be glad that you did.

It is made in earthen pots on open fire at the festival though at home, a gas stove and pressure cooker would make it a quick and fuss free preparation. In lieu of a pressure cooker, it can be cooked in a sturdy or a nonstick pot, with frequent stirring. I have given the pressure cooker method below but if using a pot to cook, the amount of water need to be adjusted accordingly. It would be more than a cup. The payasam should be on a thicker side according to the original recipe. And the color of the payasam depends upon the jaggery that have been used.

Source: Here
Ingredients: (Yield 3 - 4 servings)
1/2 cup payasam rice / regular rice (I used extra large grain.)
1/2 cup powdered jaggery
1/2 cup shredded fresh coconut
1 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. cashew nuts
1 sweet variety small banana, cut into pieces
2 cardamom, crushed
1 bay leaf 
1 tbsp. ghee or as per taste

Method:
* Rinse the rice in two exchanges of water and drain the water. Pressure cook the rice adding a cup of water. 
* Transfer the cooked rice to a nonstick pot. Add jaggery, coconut,  ghee, and cardamom to the pot. Cook the mixture on low flame until the jaggery melts, stirring frequently.
* Tear the bay leaves into pieces and add to the mixture. Next add the banana pieces, raisins and cashews and stir well. Turn off the stove.
* It can be covered with a banana leaf, if you have access to it.
 
This goes to Blogging marathon #74, under the theme 'Festival recipes'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Pal Pongal / Vellai Pongal / Milk Pongal

 Happy Sankranti / Pongal / Lohri to those who are celebrating.

And keeping my Sankranti themed dishes this week, here is one more. Paal pongal is one of the pongal versions cooked in Tamil nadu during Sankranti / Pongal festival. It is a pretty much stripped to the basics version where newly harvested rice is cooked in milk until a soft, mushy consistency is reached. A ven pongal without all the spicy and yummy embellishments, if you can call it so. And that is if you are used to cooking ven pongal in milk in the first place. This is cooked on the festival day to substitute the regular rice and can be served with any spicy gravy like the 7 kari kootu, sambhar or even chutney. It is supposedly served along with banana slices, jaggery / ghee when offered as neivedyam to God.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice
1/4 cup water
1& 1/4 to 1&1/2 cups milk
A dash of salt

Method:
* Wash rice in two exchanges of water and drain. Add rice, water and 1/4 cup milk to a pressure cook and cook for 5 to 6 whistles.
If using a sauce pan instead of a cooker, cook rice until soft and mushy, adding extra milk if needed and stirring intermittently to avoid scorching.
* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the cooker lid. Mash the rice with the back of the ladle and add the remaining milk and cook until the milk is absorbed well and the rice appears soft. Turn off the stove. Add salt and mix well.

This goes to Blogging marathon #60 under the theme 'Festival of the Month'. Check the link to see what other marathoners are cooking.

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Brown Rice Sweet Pongal ~ South Indian Sweet Rice Pudding

 
Majority of us at home love the sweet version pongal and it is therefore a regular feature in my kitchen apart from being a Sankranti dish. I keep substituting the white rice with other healthy alternatives like I did with brown rice for today's version or this quinoa one here. For a more creamier and yummier version, the water used to cook the rice can be replaced by milk in half or full portion.

Ingredients: (Yield 2 servings)
1/4 cup brown rice
2 tbsp. moong dal (Split, yellow one)
1/4 cup full fat milk
2.5 tbsp. powdered jaggery / sugar
2 tbsp. shredded, fresh coconut
Ground seeds from 2 cardamom pods
A tiny pinch of edible camphor (optional)
1to 2 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. cashews & raisins

Method:
* Wash rice and moong dal in two exchanges of water and drain. Add a cup of water to rice and dal and pressure cook until rice is almost cooked mushy. Brown rice takes longer to cook and so it will take more than three whistles to cook if Indian style cooker is used. 
If cooking in a sauce pan, try to go with a non stick one if you have one. Add rice, dal and a cup of water and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat to lowest setting and cook. Keep an eye while the rice is cooking and keep adding water intermittently as needed and keep stirring. Soaking the rice in water for at least a couple of hours prior to cooking will cut down the cooking time. More than a cup of water is needed if cooking in a sauce pan.
* Heat ghee in a pan and toast the cashews and raisins until they turn golden and plump respectively. Transfer them to a small bowl. Add the pressure cooked rice - dal mixture, milk, coconut and sugar to the same pan and cook until almost the milk is absorbed. Add the ground cardamom, edible camphor if using and the toasted cashews - raisins to the cooked pongal and stir to combine. Turn off the stove and serve the pongal warm.  

This is my entry to
1. Blogging marathon #58
 
2. Srivalli's Kids' Delight event, hosted by Kalyani this month under the theme 'Cooking with Whole Grains'.

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Pongali / Ven Pongal (Milk Version)

The word "Pongal" in a nutshell embodies the essence of the harvest festival from the southern regions of India. For the uninitiated, the word stands for two things. A south Indian harvest festival also known as Sankranti and a dish prepared with rice and moong dal on that day. Talking about the latter, there are savory and sweet versions and they were originally meant to celebrate the harvest bounty like rice and sugarcane. The term"pongal(i)" generally refers to the savory version and also goes by regional names like khara pongal / ven pongal or huggi.
Besides being the quintessential item on a festival day, it also happens to be a popular 'prasadam' offered at south Indian temples and a much enjoyed breakfast option at homes. No surprises there considering that it tastes so divine. Rice and roasted moong dal are cooked until they reach a creamy consistency and are spiced with pepper, cumin, ginger and salt. When I want to make the dish extra special, I replace more than half of water used to cook rice and moong dal with milk. The resulting pongal would be more rich, creamy and tastier. Another important point to be noted while making a pongal dish is not to skimp on the usage of ghee. Besides making it calorie laden and luxurious, it turns the dish super yummy. 
 
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rice (Don't use Basmati variety.)
1/4 cup moong dal
1.5 cups water
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp pepper corns
2 cups milk
1.5 tsp salt
Ingredients for tadka:
2 to 4 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. cashews
1 tsp ginger grated
1/2 tsp pepper corns, crushed coarsely
1 tsp cumin seeds
Few curry leaves

Method:
* Roast the moongdal on low flame for a couple of minutes and remove from fire. (This step is optional.)
* Wash rice in two exchanges of water and drain. Add rice, moong dal, turmeric powder, peppercorns and about 1 & 1/2 cups of water to a dish that can fit into your cooker. 
 
* Add water to the cooker base, place the dish into the cooker and cook for 2 -3 whistles. Turn off the stove and wait till valve pressure is gone.
 
* Alternatively, the ingredients can be cooked in a non stick pan / sturdy pot on stove top. (You can add equal quantity of milk and water while cooking.) However keep stirring in between and add any extra water/milk needed while the cooking progresses. Cook until rice-dal are done. 
* Now transfer the pressure cooked rice-dal mixture to a sturdy pot or a non stick pan and add salt. Mix and mash the mixture lightly with the back of a ladle and add the milk.

* Let the mixture cook leisurely on a gentle flame until the milk gets incorporated into the mixture and the pongal reaches a creamy texture.
* Mean while, heat ghee in a small pan and add cashews. Toast them until they turn golden, remove them with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Then add the grated ginger to the same ghee and fry until it starts to brown. Add the remaining tadka ingredients and sauté for a few more seconds. 
 
* Remove from heat, add it to the cooked pongal and mix well.

* Serve with chutney and / or sambhar.

These go to BM #43 under "Festival Special Theme". Check here to learn what other dishes are being cooked during this marathon.

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