Sweet vella Pongal | How to make Sakkarai Pongal

Sweet Pongal or Sakkarai Pongal as called in Tamilnadu is a popular sweet recipe prepared for naivedyam/prasadam during auspicious days. Especially during Pongal /Sankranti festival, this sweet Pongal is made in almost every home in Tamilnadu. Prepare this delicious sweet Pongal during Diwali, Dussehra/Navratri, and Pongal or simply as a yum breakfast 😉

Sakkarai Pongal is the common name given for this sweet Pongal. But traditionally, as the name mentions it’s not made of sugar but jaggery. You can make using sugar or brown sugar also if you like instead of jaggery although jaggery gives the authentic taste and color. This vella Pongal is a healthy dish for kids because of the moong dal, jaggery, and cashews. This is a very quick recipe using a pressure cooker which you can make in just 15 minutes.

The highlight of this sweet Pongal is in the soft texture and in the sweet Aroma of ghee. Always try to make this sweet Pongal using raw rice. Offer this sakkarai Pongal as prasadam or Nivedyam to God on auspicious occasions.

Pride of Pongal festival:

During Pongal/Sankranti holidays, in villages, there are many games or sports conducted. One of the popular sport is the Jallikattu (Tamilnadu bull game). The bulls are one by one allowed to run and play among a large crowd. Later, the cows and bulls are decorated and offered with their delicacies. The first day is Bhogi. The second day is for the farmers, the third day is for bulls and cows and the last day is for Sun god. On the last day, people treat themselves with non-veg delicacies.

Festival means food. Yes!!! The delicious home-cooked aromatic food is the first thing that comes to our mind when you think about a festival. The strong relationship between food and festivities is inseparable and will always flow down in our cultures. Of all the other festivals of TamilNadu, SouthIndia, this is the only festival which has the name of its special food or vice versa 🙂

In the span of four days, we relish varieties of food like Akkara vadisal, Karupatti pongal, Kalkandu pongal, Ven Pongal, Pasiparuppu sambar, Kadhamba sambar, Arachuvitta sambar, Paruppu oppittu, Sweet Pongal and Medhu vadai.

For complete festival /Dussehra recipes: Dussehra recipes

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Sweet Pongal | How to make Sakkarai Pongal

Sangskitchen

Sweet Pongal or Sakkarai Pongal as called in Tamilnadu is a popular sweet recipe prepared for naivedyam/prasadam during auspicious days.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Main Course, Prasadam, sweets

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Calories 250 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Ingredients:

To boil:

• 1 cup raw rice
• ½ cup moong dal pasiparuppu
• 4 ½ cups water

To make jaggery syrup:

• 1 ½ cup jaggery powder
• 1 cup water

For Pongal:

• 1 cup boiled milk
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• 1 pinch salt optional

To garnish:

• 3 tbsp ghee
• 2 tbsp cashew pieces
• 1 tsp dry grapes

Instructions

 

Preparation:

• Wash and soak the rice and moong dal together for 20 minutes.
• Always use a half cup of moong dal for one cup of rice. Rice and moong dal ratio should be 1:1/2

Recipe:

How to pressure cook Pongal:

• In a pressure cooker add this soaked, drained rice Dal mixture with 4.5 cups of water. I used one cup of rice and a half cup of moong dal. Use three times water for the total quantity which is 4.5 cups.
• Pressure cook up to 5 whistles.

How to make jaggery syrup:

• Meanwhile, in a different pan take 1.5 cups of jaggery powder and a cup of water, mix well until jaggery dissolves completely.
• No need to make any string consistency from the jaggery syrup, just dissolving in water is enough. Filter this syrup using a metal strainer to remove impurities. Keep aside.

For garnishing:

• Heat ghee in a small pan. Fry cashew pieces & dry grapes in medium heat until golden brown color.

How to make sweet Pongal:

• When pressure crops open the cooker lid, match with a ladle as shown when it is still hot.
• Add the filter jaggery syrup and mix well in medium flame for 5 minutes until jaggery is absorbed nicely by the mashed the rice and dal.
• Now add cardamom powder and mix.
• Pour milk and mix together.
• Finally, add fried cashews and dry grapes along with the ghee.
• Switch off and serve hot or offer as prasadam.

Video

Notes

Tips/Notes: 1. Use good quality rice and dal while making sweet Pongal. 2. Always follow the measurement to make soft Pongal. If you are making large quantity then double ingredients accordingly. 3. You can add A Pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness. 4. If you don't get jaggery then you can use sugar or brown sugar. 5. I always add milk while making this sakkarai Pongal but you can avoid adding it if you are going to keep it for a long time.

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcal

Keyword jaggery Pongal, Sakkara pongal, sakkarai Pongal, sweet pongal, vella Pongal

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Picture explanation:

Preparation:

• Wash and soak the rice and moong dal together for 20 minutes.
• Always use a half cup of moong dal for one cup of rice. Rice and moong dal ratio should be 1:1/2. You can use up to 3/4 cup of yellow moong if you wish.

Recipe:

How to pressure cook rice & dal for Pongal:

• In a pressure cooker add this soaked, drained rice+dal mixture with 4.5 cups of water. I used one cup of rice and a half cup of moong dal. Use three times of water for the total quantity which is 4.5 cups.
• Pressure cook up to 5 whistles.

How to make jaggery syrup:

• Meanwhile, in a different pan take 1.5 cups of jaggery powder and a cup of water, mix well until jaggery dissolves completely.

• No need to make any string consistency from the jaggery syrup, just dissolving in water is enough. Filter this syrup using a metal strainer to remove impurities. Keep aside.

For garnishing:

• Heat ghee in a small pan. Fry cashew pieces & dry grapes in medium heat until golden brown color. Keep aside.

How to make sweet Pongal:

• When pressure crops open the cooker lid, mash the cooked rice& dal with a ladle as shown when it is still hot.

• Add the filtered jaggery syrup and mix well in medium flame for 5 minutes until jaggery is absorbed nicely by the mashed rice and dal.

• Now add cardamom powder and mix.

• Pour milk and mix together.

• Finally, add fried cashews and dry grapes along with the ghee.

• Switch off and serve hot or offer as prasadam.

Tips/Notes:

1. Use good quality rice and dal while making sweet Pongal.
2. Always follow the measurement to make soft Pongal. If you are making a large quantity then double ingredients accordingly.
3. You can add A Pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness.
4. If you don’t get jaggery then you can use sugar or brown sugar.
5. I always add milk while making this sakkarai Pongal but you can avoid adding it if you are going to keep it for a long time.