Chakkarai Pongal

Chakkarai Pongal is a famous South Indian Receipe. Its basically a sweetened rice. We make it on lots of occasions like Pongal, Margazhi - 'koodarai valli', Thiruvaadi pooram. Any festival is not complete without a sweet dish and Chakarai Pongal is a favourite for many. This monday, August 4, 2008 was Thiruvaadi Pooram .. which is the birth day of Andaal. Making chakarai ponal and reciting her famous, "koodarai vellum seer' is a tradition. Following that, we made chakkarai pongal and presented it to the Goddess. In the song, she says, "Mooda nei peithu muzhangai vazhi vaara' -which means 'if we take the pongal in our hands- the ghee shd run out of it' - hence a lot of ghee is used in the receipe. Not for cholestrol reducing, fat-free diet people. Here's the receipe.



1 cup Raw Rice

2 cups Jaggery

1 1/2 cups Ghee

2 tsp Cashewnuts(broken into small pieces and fried in ghee)

2 tsp raisins( fried in ghee)

a pinch of Elachi, Saffron, Nutmeg powder, each.


Method :

* Cook rice with 1 cup of milk and 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker till well done.

* Mix the saffron in a little warm milk and add it to the rice.

* Mash it nicely with a laddle.

* In a pan, add the mashed rice and jaggery.

* Cook stirring continuously till the jaggery mixes well with the rice.

* Start adding ghee little by little stirring continuously.

* Cook till the rice mixture starts leaving the sides and ghee comes out.

* Add elachi, nutmeg powder to the rice and mix well.

* Now add the fried cashews and raisins to the pongal and serve.