Chakkara Pongal | Sakkarai Pongal

chakkara pongal in a bowl on a green plate

5 from 50 votes

Chakkara Pongal | Sakkarai Pongal

Chakkara pongal or Sakkarai Pongal is the most important recipe made on Sankrathi / Pongal day. This is not just made on that day but also for many festival and special occasions through out the year.

Prep Time10

Cook Time45

Total Time55

Course: Dessert, Festival Recipes

Cuisine: South Indian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 534kcal

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Ingredients

1 cup Rice I use regular short grain cooking rice like Sona masoori
3 tablespoon Green gram dhal Payatham paruppu
1 teaspoon Channa dal Kadalai paruppu
2 ½ cups Jaggery crushed
2 tablespoon Sugar
½ cup Ghee
1 ½ cups Milk
2 cups water
2 tablespoon Cashews nut
2 tablespoon raisin
½ teaspoon Nutmeg powder
a pinch Pachai Karpooram / Edible camphor

Instructions

Fry the dhal in a heavy bottom pan, until it slightly changes color. Then add the rice and fry it for few more seconds, until the heat spreads evenly and then take it off the flame.
Wash the rice and dhal mixture and then pressure cook it adding enough milk and water. Make sure that the rice is cooked to a mushy consistency.
Make syrup out of the Jaggery and sugar adding very little water (About ½ a cup). Let the syrup boil well and then add couple of teaspoons of ghee.
Once the rice is cooked, mash it well with a masher or back of a wooden ladle. Add this mashed rice, dhal mixture to the boiling syrup and add the rest of the ghee. Let it combine well and come to a semi solid stage.
Fry some cashew, raisins, nutmeg and pachai karpooram in ghee and add this to the Chakkara pongal. Enjoy it warm or at room temperature!!

Notes

Expert tips and notes

You can reduce the amount of ghee as per your taste, but ½ cup yields perfectly tasting chakkara pongal.
Nutmeg and Edible camphor is something that can be considered optional, but for me those are the 2 ingredients that incorporate the maximum flavor to the chakkara pongal.

Nutrition