Sarkkarai Pongal

Ingrediants:

Raw Rice / Pacharisi – 1 cup

Yellow Moong Dal / Pasi Paruppu – ½ cup

Milk – 5 cups

Jaggery / Sarkarai / Vellam – 2 cup or to taste (grated)

Cashews – 3 tblspn

Sultanas / Kishmish – 3 tblspn

Cardamom / Yelakai – 5 pods

Ghee – ¼ cup

Coconut – ½ cup (optional)

Method:

Take 1 tsp of ghee and roast moong dal till nice aroma comes.. Remove on to a bowl.. Add rice to that and soak this both for around 15 mins.

Now drain it and put this in a pressure cooker along with milk and let it come to a boil..Now cover with a lid. Cook for 3 whistles or for 15-20 mins on low flame..Let the pressure go by itself. Remove it and mush it up with a spoon.

Meanwhile add 1 cup of water to jaggery and mix well, so that it gets dissolved..Pour this jaggery water over the cooked rice and dal through a sieve and mix well.

Take a kadai and add ghee in it. Add cashews, kishmish and cardamom in it and mix well..Fry till cashews turn light golden.

Now add the rice mixture in this and mix well..Stir for 5 mins on a low flame so that all flavours gets united. You could add some grated coconut at this point and mix well.

Remove it and serve..

Notes:

1.You could cook the rice and dal in water and add a cup of thick milk later while adding jaggery water.

2. Drizzle some pure ghee over the finished pongal for more taste and flavour.