The secret of Chakkara Pongal
This is a contribution post by Anuradha Sowmyanarayanan
Indian sweets are no doubt heavenly. Refined flour, wheat flour, milk, sugar, nuts and many ingredients when blended in the right way and proportion create magic in the kitchen. One such delicacy of South India is Sweet Pongal or Chakkara Pongal. It is prepared with rice, moong dal, milk, cardamom, cashew nut, raisins, ghee and the key ingredient- jaggery.
Ancient recipe handed down
It is an ancient recipe that has travelled quite a lot! Traditionally, Sweet Pongal was prepared in large quantities in temples, usually in bronze vessels. Back in the day food was cooked on firewood, bronze vessels were used to prepare sweet items. Steaming Chakkara Pongal was then offered to God after which it was distributed to devotees as prasadham or bhogh. The practice is followed by most of the households in South India today, but now in pressure cookers.
When Chakkara Pongal is eaten
Anytime of the day really! But Pongal is a South Indian harvest festival during which Chakkara Pongal is a star dish. Not just that, it is a delicacy at weddings too. It is served along with lemon rice, coconut rice, and Pulihora along with a side of banana chips, yam chips or potato chips. Chakkara Pongal is also prepared during Marghazi, in the Tamil Calendar which starts on December 15th and ends on January 15th. This is an auspicious month for poojas, sacrifices, worship and fasting. In Lord Krishna’s words, masanam marghashirshoham, which means there is no other month as auspicious as this.
In this sacred month Andal, a devotee of Lord Krishna fasted and sang 30 hymns in praise of him and this collection is called Thiruppavai. She concludes it with an offering of Sweet Pongal to Lord Krishna on the 27th day of the Tamil calendar, Koodaraivalli. In remembrance of that people chant hymns and offer Sweet Pongal to Andal as well as to Lord Krishna. On the day of 30th day of Marghazi when Andal gets married to Lord Krishna, Chakkara Pongal is again prepared and served with fervour and gaiety!
How you too can indulge in this deliciousness
Let’s get to the kitchen and prepare some scrumptious Chakkara Pongal.
- For 3/4 cup of rice and 1/4 cup of moong dal, use 3 measures of jaggery. (1:3)
- Cook the moong dal and rice together with a ratio of 1:3 water and a little milk.
- Powder the jaggery and add it to a thick bottomed vessel or bronze vessel with sufficient water.
- When the jaggery is fully diluted, filter it through a sieve or filter to remove dust particles.
- Pour the filtered jaggery syrup back into the vessel and heat it till it gets to a string-like consistency.
- Add some ghee and stir until the syrup thickens.
- Now throw in a dash of cardamom powder, copra (desiccated coconut) and a little bit of natural or raw camphor.
- Then it’s time to add the cooked rice and dal.
- Keep stirring and add a little ghee.
- Let the ingredients blend well and cook.
- Heat ghee in an another pan and add cashew nuts and raisins.
- Fry until golden brown and garnish the dish with them.
- Your hot and delicious Chakkara Pongal is ready to serve.
It is best eaten in the company of friends, family and a lot of love and laughter- the way festivals are meant to be!
Anuradha Sowmyanarayanan is a tutor, blogger, poet, book reviewer and passionate reader. Her interest in reading and writing paved the way for her blog in 2016. Book Food Language is an amalgamation of the three elements.
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