"Pongal" is the harvest festival of south India, when this sweet dish is prepared. The traditional approach is to slow-cook sweet pongal in a pot until it boils over, when the family exclaims "Pongalo pongal". I usually prepare this only once a year, on Pongal day :) Personally, I prefer the taste of its cousin Akkaravadisal, which I choose to make more often, but each is unique in its own way.


Ingredients: (serves 4)

rice - 3/4 cup
mung beans - 3/4 cup
fat free milk - 6 cups
jaggery/sugar - 1 1/2 cups
clarified butter (ghee) - 6 tbsp
sliced almonds / broken cashews - 2 tbsp
raisins - 2 tbsp

Fry nuts and raisins in a little ghee and keep aside. Fry rice and mung bean in a little ghee and pressure cook with milk and jaggery until soft (even mushy is fine). Once cooked, add remaining ghee, nuts and raisins.

Notes:
If you can't use fat free milk, dilute the milk with some water.