Sweet Pongal Recipe Andhra Style is a mouth-watering South Indian sweet dish commonly made for auspicious occasions and festivals. It is made of moong dhal, rice and jaggery tempered with ghee, raisins and cashew nuts.
In the current blog, I would like to share an easy recipe for sweet Pongal. With key tips on how to make your cooking flawless and effortless. The recipe is simple and quick. It needs fewer ingredients to prepare as well.
Sweet Pongal is also called Chakkara Pongal in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is called as Chakkarai Pongal in TamilNadu. It is offered to God in many temples and distributed to the devotees visiting the temple.
How to make Sweet Pongal Recipe Andhra Style
Pongal is a sweet rice porridge with a good amount of ghee, coconut and nuts for garnishing. You can make many variations to the sweet Pongal. You can use semolina, quinoa or millets to make the sweet Pongal. The most popular and commonly made Pongal is with rice. Let us get started with step by step procedure to make the flavorful and tasty sweet Pongal
Utensils and Time Required for Sweet Pongal Recipe Andhra Style
All the utensils needed for making the sweet Pongal will be available in every Indian Kitchen. However, you must have them ready before cooking and also know the time required for the entire procedure. This will enable you to have well-organized cooking.
| UTENSILS NEEDED
tadka pan Rice Cooker Big Bowl to rinse the rice and moong dhal Vessel to cook Pongal |
| TOTAL PREPARATION TIME
20 Minutes |
| COOKING TIME FOR RICE AND MOONG DHAL
15 MINUTES |
| COOKING TIME FOR TEMPERING
5 MINUTES |
Ingredients for Sweet Pongal Recipe Andhra Style
It’s always important to keep the ingredients ready at the beginning. This way you will have all the ingredients handy. Also, there are no chances of missing the ingredient.
| QUANTITY OF INGREDIENTS for PONGAL
Rice – 1/2 cup Moong dhal – 1/2 cup Ghee – 2 tablespoons Cardamom Powder – 2 pinches Raisins – 2 tablespoons Cashews – 2 tablespoons Coconut pieces – 2 tablespoons Jaggery – 1/2 cup |
Step by Step procedure for Sweet Pongal Recipe Andhra Style
Preparing the Sweet Pongal is very easy as it has very few ingredients. It is also a quick recipe and you can prepare in no time. Let us get started with step by step simple procedure of making the sweet Pongal. You will be surprised how effortlessly you can prepare this dish and relish it with your family.
1. Add 1/2 cup of rice to a bowl
Take a bowl and add 1/2 cup of rice. We then add an equal quantity of moong dhal to the bowl for rinsing. You must use the new rice that was harvested in the last three months. The reason being. the new rice when cooked mashes softly together with mong dhal on cooking.
2. Add the moong dhal and rinse with water
Now add the 1/2 cup of moong dhal to the bowl. It is very important to have an equal quantity of rice and moong dhal for the Pongal recipe. Add enough water to the bowl. Rinse the rice and the moong dhal once or twice until it is clean.
3. Drain the rinsed water and add the rice and dhal to the cooker
After you rinse the equal quantity of rice and the moong dhal. Drain the water completely from the bowl. This is very important because any additional water in the bowl may disturb the measurement of water used for cooking rice and moong dhal. Add the rinsed rice and moong dhal to the pressure cooker
4. Add 4 Cups of water then Close the lid and cook until 3 whistles
You must now add 4 cups of water to the cooker. Now close the lid. Turn on the stove and keep the flame in the medium heat. Cook the rice and the moong dhal until you get three whistles in the pressure cooker.
5. Keep the cooker aside when the rice and moong dhal is cooked
When you cook the rice and the moong dhal, please do not open the lid immediately. Now leave the pressure cooker aside so that the cooking process continues for some more time.
6. Keep a vessel on the stove
Take a vessel to prepare the Pongal and place it on the stove and keep the flame in medium
7. Add 1/2 cup of jaggery
Take 1/2 cup of jaggery to make the sweet Pongal. Add the jaggery to the vessel kept on the stove.
8. Add water and bring it to boil until the jaggery dissolves
Add one cup of water to the vessel and bring it to boil. Keep stirring the jaggery until it is dissolved completely in the water.
9. Add two pinches of cardamom powder
Now you must add 2 pinches of cardamom powder to the boiling jaggery syrup. You can use cardamom to spice the sweet dishes. It gives the extra fragrance to the dish. You can use them as seeds, pods, or powder. It enhances the flavor of the sweet Pongal. Hence this is a very important ingredient in most of the sweet dishes.
10. Take the Cooked rice and moong dhal from the cooker
You must take the cooker that was kept aside to wait until the pressure is released from the cooker. Take the boiled moong dhal and the rice from the cooker and mix it well before adding to the jaggery syrup.
11. Add the Cooked rice and moong dhal from the cooker to the vessel and mix well
After mixing the cooked rice and moong dhal well. It gets mashed nicely. Now you must add the mashed rice and dhal to the vessel. Mix it well with the jaggery syrup. Let the rice and dhal cook in the jaggery syrup for some time so that you mix the jaggery syrup with rice and dhal evenly throughout.
12. Keep the tadka pan on the stove
You must now prepare the tempering for the sweet Pongal. Take a tadka pan and place it on the stove and keep the flame in the medium heat to avoid burning of the tempering.
13. Add the 2 tablespoons of ghee
You must add 2 tablespoons of ghee or clarified butter. You may also choose to use artificial ghee or vanaspati or any vegetable oil according to your preference. In order to use healthy fats, I have used ghee.
14. Add cashew and raisins then saute well until slight brown
After you heat the ghee, add the cashews as a whole or broken into small pieces. Then you must add the raisins. Saute well in the ghee until they turn into golden brown.
15. Add the coconut pieces to the pan and saute them
Once you add the cashews and raisins, finally add the chopped coconut pieces as well to the ghee. Saute them well.
16. Add the tempering to cooked dhal and rice
Now the tempering is ready. It is time to add the tempering to the cooked and mashed rice and dhal in jaggery syrup. Mix them all together well so that you mix the tempering well evenly in the sweet Pongal.
17. Serve the delicious sweet Pongal
Transfer the sweet Pongal to the bowl. You can garnish again on the top with cashews and raisins if you prefer to. Delicious and tasty sweet Pongal is ready to be served. You can also eat sweet Pongal along with the Khara Pongal which is the savory kind and it makes a wonderful combination.
Essential Tips for Sweet Pongal Recipe Andhra Style
There are many things I do in order to make my cooking better. I would love to share them with you. So you can have trouble-free cooking. I am sure you will find it useful.
1. Right quantity of water for the rice and moong dhal
You must ensure to add 4 cups of water to one cup of rice plus moong dhal. For the Pongal recipe, four times water is required so that porridge can be prepared with a gooey texture.
2. Quantity of rice and moong dhal
It is very important to have an equal quantity of rice and moong dhal. This will help the Pongal to taste delicious.
3. Leave the cooker undisturbed after the rice and moong dhal is cooked
When you cook the rice and the moong dhal, please do not open the lid immediately. Now leave the pressure cooker aside so that the cooking process continues for some more time.
4. Use of cashews
Another important ingredient for the Pongal is cashew nuts. It is commonly used for garnishing in sweets and savories in Indian Cuisine. It makes the Pongal more delicious by enhancing the taste.
5. Use of Cardamom powder
Cardamom is used to spice the sweet dishes. It gives the extra fragrance to the dish. You can use them as seeds, pods, or powder. It enhances the flavor of the sweet Pongal. Hence this is a very important ingredient in most of the sweet dishes.
Hope you had a good experience leaning the Sweet Pongal recipe. You will enjoy making the Sweet Pongal recipe also as much as the current blog. Please leave your comments in the below section. I will be happy to answer.