The Makar Sankranti excitement is in the air and the delectable food only adds to the festive cheer. This is the first festival celebrated in the year by a majority of people in India both in the North and South. It is considered important to make sweets with peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut and jaggery during this festival, and usually, chikki is the most popular sweet made with these ingredients.
In Tamil Nadu, this festival is called Pongal, and farmers pay their obeisance to the Sun God, thank Him for a good harvest. Freshly-harvested rice and vegetables are used to make traditional delicacies like Chakkarai Pongal (Sweet Pongal), etc. The rice is usually cooked in new earthen pots. Colourful rangolis are drawn in front of the houses and the earthen pot is placed in the centre of the rangoli on a wood-fired stove and the rice is cooked under the Sun. Many households in rural areas prefer to follow this traditional method till date. In the cities, for lack of facilities people cook these delicacies on gas stoves or hot plates.
Here are some recipes which are all-time favourites. Try these mouthwatering recipes to get the festival feel and offer them to Lord Krishna, before partaking of the same.
Ven Pongal
Ingredients
- ¼ cup yellow moong dal
- ½ cup rice
- ¼ tsp asafetida
- 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- Salt to taste
- 1 ½ tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp broken cashew nuts
- 1 tsp coarsely crushed black pepper
- A few curry leaves
Method
- Heat a small non-stick pan and add dal and dry roast on a medium flame for 2-3 minutes.
- Wash the dry roasted dal and rice.
- Mix the dal-rice mixture, asafetida, half tsp of cumin seeds, ginger, salt and three cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook for five whistles.
- After steam escapes, open the cooker and add half a cup of hot water and mix well.
- Heat ghee in a small non-stick pan and add the balance one tsp of cumin seeds and sauté on medium flame for half a minute.
- Add cashew nuts, coarsely crushed pepper and curry leaves and sauté on a medium flame for half a minute.
- Add the above seasoning to the dal-rice mixture and blend well.
- Serve when still hot with ghee.
Adapted from the Gupt Vrindavan Dham blog: Traditional Sankranti Recipes.
