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Festivals mean food. And for Pongal, there are a variety of special dishes to be savoured.

1. Sarkarai Pongal

Method - 1

A typical sweet dish associated with Pongal.

Ingredients

Ghee- 200 gms
Jaggery- 350 gms
Raw rice- 200 gms
Moong Dal-  25 gms
Grated coconut 50 gms
Raisins - a handful
Cashew nuts- a handful
 Cardamoms- 2-3

Fry the raisins and cashew nuts in ghee. Keep aside. Then melt the jaggery. For this, heat about 100 ml of water. Add the jaggery. Allow the jaggery to melt. It should form a thick syrup. Then half cook the rice and moong dal.  Discard excess water.  Now, add the half-cooked rice, moong dal and grated coconut into the jaggery mixture. Stir well. Add the fried raisins and roasted cashew nuts. Cook for a further 7-8 minutes. Before serving add the cardamoms.

This should serve about 4.

2. Vermicelli payasam

Another typical dish associated with Pongal.

Ingredients

1-cup fine sev (vermicelli)
4-5 cups milk
6 tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. powdered cardamoms
Almonds and raisins to garnish
Pinch of saffron (roast and powder)
1 tbsp. chopped nuts

Method

Boil vermicelli in water and strain. Boil milk and mix in sugar. Add boiled vermicelli to milk and boil for 10 minutes. Add saffron and cardamom. Cool and garnish with chopped nuts. Serve as a dessert, either hot or cold in individual cups.

This should serve about 4.

                                                                                               3. Til Laddu

An easy to make laddu.

Ingredients

1 kg. white til (crush fine)
½ kg. khoya
1¼ kgs. sugar (powder)

Method

Mix all the ingredients and blend well, kneading with the hands. Form into marble size laddus and store in airtight containers.

Enjoy!

4. Murukku

A savoury snack.  

Ingredients

cups rice (soak for 2 hours and rinse)
cup channa dal
Salt to taste
½ tsp. cummin seeds
1 tblsp. butter (melt)
Water
Ghee for frying  

Method

Pound rice and sieve.  Pound channa dal and sieve the powder. Mix rice and dal together, add salt and cummin seeds. Add butter to the flour mixture with enough water to make a thick paste. Squeeze this through a murukku vessel or a forcing bag in circles, into boiling ghee and deep fry till golden brown. Remove each one as it is done. Drain and cool.

This should serve about 6 persons.

5. Sakar Poli

A west coast speciality.

Ingredients

250 gms. flour
250 gms. rava (sooji)
500 gms. ghee
250 gms. rice flour
4 cups milk
250 gms. rock sugar
1 tbsp. cardamom (powder)
1 tbsp. cream or malai
500 gms. sugar
½ tsp. saffron (powder)
½ tbsp. chopped nuts
½ tbsp. raisins

Method

Keep aside 1 teaspoon flour and mix the remaining with the rava, 1 tablespoon  ghee,  ½ tablespoon rice flour and knead into a hard dough,  using milk as required. Keep this dough for 2½ hrs. in a tightly covered pan. Then mix 1-tablespoon ghee and 2 teaspoons rice flour together, mix with the dough and pound the dough on a grinding stone for at least 20 to 30 minutes till it is soft. Make a long roll and cut and roll into small lemon sized balls. Keep under a wet cloth to prevent drying while the filling is prepared.

Filling: Heat 1-tablespoon ghee and fry 1-tablespoon flour. When slightly brown remove from the fire, cool and mix in the rock sugar.  Add cardamom and cream and knead thoroughly into dough. Also make this dough into lemon-sized portions. These should be half the quantity of the ones made for the dough. Sprinkle rice flour on a board and flatten out 2 of the dough portions and one of filling and place the filling between the other two and seal the sides tightly so that the sugar does not seep out. Roll out very thin into a large round. Heat griddle. Apply ghee on the surface of the poli and place it immediately on the heated griddle, turn over after one or two minutes till lightly browned, fold into half   and then into quarter. The poli should be very crisp when cool. Make the rest of the polis in the same way.

This Sakar Poli is always served with sweet milk, coconut chutney and gram salad.

To make the sweet milk: To the remaining milk, add 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar, saffron, nuts and raisins. Add 3-4 tablespoons melted ghee and serve with the Sakar Poli.

6. Sarkarai Pongal

Method - 2

A sweet rice dish.

Ingredients

cup rice (wash and dry)
¼ cup ghee
4 cups hot water
½ cup sugar  
¼ tsp. yellow colouring
1 tbsp. cashewnuts chopped
½ cup seedless raisins

Method

Melt ghee in a pan and saute the rice but do not brown. Add water, stir in the sugar, yellow colouring, cashewnuts and raisins. Bring to the boil and cook till about one cup of liquid remains. Lower heat, cover pan, put water on the cover and simmer till the rice is cooked.

7.  Vada

A deep fried savoury snack.

Ingredients

2 cups juvari flour
2 cups urad dal
4 tbsp. methi seeds
4 cups wheat flour
1½ tbsp. til oil
¼ tsp. baking powder
Curds from 2 cups milk
1 tsp. ground ginger
8 red chillies                      

A pinch of asafoetida  
1 tsp. turmeric
Salt to taste
Til oil for  frying

Method

Warm juvari flour, urad dal and methi seeds in the oven and grind coarsely. Mix with the wheat flour, til oil, baking powder, salt, drained curds and a little warm water. Keep overnight. The next morning add ginger, red chillies, asafoetida and turmeric. Make small thick flat rounds and deep fry in hot oil.

Garnish with coriander. Serve along with spicy chutneys.