Saturday, August 15, 2009

Golden And Delicious Sarkkarai Pongal.

I was invited by a friend, Lakshmi, for a pooja at her home on Aadi Velli last friday. There were mango leaves tied at her door. As I stepped into her home, the fragrance of incense sticks was in the air. The ambience was calming.

After a little prayer and a while of chit chat, she handed me a cute, red, star-shaped bowl which contained beetel leaves, arecanut, fruits, flowers and a cup of prasad. The prasad was a golden, aromatic Sarkkarai Pongal.

As soon as I got back home, I restlessly opened the cup and scooped out a heaped spoonful of pongal and as it touched my taste buds.................. pure pleasure. It nearly put me in a daze.
I have never, ever tasted such wonderful Pongal, very sweet though.
I quickly pick up my cordless and call Lakshmi to ask her for her recipe and she, graciously, agrees to give it to me.
Personally for me, it was extremely sweet, but it was apt for serving as a prasad . Prasad at it's sweetest and tastiest best . It was like eating gold :)
You can see for yourselves the golden color and specks of cardamom in the pongal (pic. 1). And in pic 2 is a heaped spoonful of the pongal with cashews, raisins and saffron. All visible. I wish I could impart some of its aroma too via this blog :)
Trust me.......it tasted heavenly.

Below, is the recipe that Lakshmi gave me. Don't be apalled at the amount of jaggery and ghee used here. It is made like that, purposely, for serving Deity Devi.
This recipe makes for a very very sweet pongal. If you are not using it for a pooja and making it for a simple dessert, you can reduce the level of sweetness and ghee according to taste.

Thanks Lakshmi for the recipe.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
  • 2 cups milk.
  • 1 cup rice
  • 2 cups jaggery
  • 1/2 cup ghee
  • A pinch of cardamom powder
  • Cashew and raisins
  • Few strands of saffron.

Directions:

  • Boil rice in milk.
  • Once rice cooked, reduce heat and add jaggery till all the liquid eveporates.( the rice will be a little mushy at this point)
  • Stir well and regularly to avoid burning.
  • Fry cashew and raisins in a little ghee and add it to the rice mixture along with the rest of the ghee. At this point add saffron and cardamom powder as well. Serve warm or cold.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

25 comments:

  1. nice recipe.....anything sweet and I am up for it...collect your awards from my blog

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  2. Yes true dear.. Golden sakkarai pongal..! Delicious ghee filled.. yummmy !!

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  3. Mmmmmmmmmmmm looks yummy yummy.... My fav one

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  4. Thanks, will try it today...

    We normally prepare it from Rava and call it "Rave ka halva". Among gujratis I think the same is called "seera" and in Karnataka a similar recipe is " kesari bath"

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  5. Smitha... sorry forgot to say... Happy Independence day...

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  6. Wow looks so delicious! Loved the golden colour!

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  7. Hey golden pongal looks great Smitha!!

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  8. have u tried eating gold???

    the pongal looks awesome, ive never had this prasadam...wish u wud have posted it yesterday...made couple of sweet treats for janmastami.

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  9. Pongal looks very delicious,nice color..

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  10. Hey I made your sun dried tomatoes. I used cherry tomatoes and a hell lot of garlic. It came out awesome, I didnt have to keep it in the oven for a longer time, this might be because my oven temp is not ok. BUt I want to stick a basil twig in the oil and can't wait to eat it! Thanks for the awesome recipe!

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  11. 2 cups sarkkara..*thud*...1/2 cup ghee..*thud**thud*..:D
    Lol..I know it goes like that,but I wont mind having it..Looks heavenly smitha kuttis..am still crazy about the panjamrutham they serve at temple..my..I go crazy abt it..:D

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  12. first snap is really amazing... :)how are you..sorry for the delay in comments.. :) i was off from blogging for a long time.. :)..den dis fst snap is really amazing.. :) i love this alot.. :)

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  13. Darling I hope you had a lovely weekend. I just stopped by to wish you a sunny day!!

    ♥ hugs ♥

    Duchess

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  14. Wow, that really does look like the best kind of golden deliciousness! I've never made pongal before, but I think I could try this one .. and reduce the sweetness like you suggested.

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  15. Hi,
    First time at your blog...nice work...
    This dish looks so yummy!

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  16. sarkkarai pongal karichu flat aayo smitha... No new posts?

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  17. Love the rich golden color from jaggery :)
    In the name of coconuts I tried your recipe for the coconut chutney,it was totally delish :)

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  18. Never heard about this dish....looks tempting....and delish

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  19. Your description made me feel desperate to taste it :)

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  20. Sakkarai pongal always makes any festival complete.. Its awsome richness is as divine as the ambiance of the prayer!!

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