3 Traditional PONGAL Recipes That Are A Must Try This Festive Season

Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated with lot of fervour in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It is a four-day festival celebrated to mark sun’s transition towards north (Uttarayan) This year, Thai Pongal will begin on the 15th January 2019, till 18th January 2019. Like any festival in India, Pongal too is incomplete without its extensive range of traditional delicacies. So, here are a few popular Pongal recipes you should try this time.

Ven Pongal

This is a healthy breakfast option which is made with the southern spices and flavours. It's light, delicious and goes beautifully with both sambar and chutney.

Cook Time: 35 mins

Difficulty Level: Easy

Recipe Servings: 4

Ingredients :

1 Cup Rice

1/2 Cup Yellow moong dal

1 tsp Black pepper

1 Green chilli

1 Ginger

1 tsp Cumin seeds

4 Cup Curry leaves water

200 Gram Ghee

To taste Cashew nuts

To taste Salt

Instructions :

Pour 100 gm ghee in a pressure cooker. Add rice and moong dal.
Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add water and salt.

Pressure cook it until 3 whistles.

Add the remaining ghee, cashew nuts, black pepper, cumin seeds, green chilli, curry leaves and ginger in a pan.

Fry for 1 minute and pour the tadka over the dish.

Serve hot with chutney and sambar.

Murukku a.k.a fried lentil snack

This popular South Indian snack is not only crispy, delicious and easy but also crackling to look at.

Cook Time: 35 mins

Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients :

1 Cup Rice flour

1/4 Cup Dhuli urad dal (powdered)

1 1/2 Tbsp Salt

1/4 Tbsp Asafoetida (diluted in 1/4 cup water)

2 Tbsp Ghee or butter

1 Tbsp Safed til oil (for deep frying)

Instructions :

Mix all the ingredients and knead to a firm dough with water.
Keep aside for half an hour or so.

Heat the oil till a drop of dough thrown in comes up at once.

Using a press (like a sevaiyaa/cookie press), press out round murkkus straight into the hot oil.

Lower the heat and cook till they're light brown and crisp on both sides.
Cool and store in an airtight jar.

Payasam

A delicious, creamy, rice and milk pudding with cashews and raisins. Payasam is a South Indian dessert, a different version of kheer.

Cook Time: 45 mins

Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients :

50 Gram Rice

1 Litre Milk

5 Gram Cardamom powder

100 Gram Sugar

50 ml Ghee (clarified butter)

50 Gram Cashew nuts

25 Gram Raisins

Instructions :

Wash and soak the rice for 1/2 an hour.
Cook the rice in milk until soft.

Add cardamom powder, sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Heat ghee in a pan and add the cashew nuts.

When the cashew nuts are slightly golden, add the raisins and saute for 1 minute.

Pour on the rice mixture and serve warm.