← Back to Palm Jaggery

“On Pongal morning, the pot overflows and we shout ‘Pongalo Pongal!’ in the courtyard. In our house, the sakkarai pongal was always made with karupatti. The colour was not golden but dark, almost amber — and the flavour was not sweet but profound. That is what real pongal tastes like.”

Ingredients

Raw rice (pacharisi)	1 cup
Yellow moong dal	¼ cup
Sree Kumaran Palm Jaggery (Karupatti), grated	1¼ cups
Water	4 cups
Sree Kumaran A2 Desi Cow Ghee	4 tbsp
Thick coconut milk	½ cup
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Cashews & raisins, fried in ghee	2 tbsp each
Edible camphor (pacha karpooram)	a tiny pinch

Method

1. Dry roast moong dal until lightly golden and fragrant. Wash the rice and dal together twice. Pressure cook with 4 cups of water for 5 whistles. Allow pressure to release naturally. The mixture should be very soft and overcooked.
2. Dissolve grated palm jaggery in ½ cup of warm water. Strain through a fine sieve to remove any fibres or impurities. The syrup will be a deep, glossy amber-brown.
3. Open the pressure cooker and mash the rice-dal mixture gently. Transfer to a heavy kadai. Add the strained jaggery syrup and mix well over medium heat. The pongal will turn a beautiful deep brown from the karupatti.
4. Add coconut milk and stir. The colour will lighten slightly to a warm caramel. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring, until the coconut milk is absorbed.
5. Add ghee in two additions, stirring between each. Add cardamom powder and the tiny pinch of edible camphor. Stir well.
6. Top generously with cashews and raisins fried in ghee. Serve hot in a banana leaf cup if available, or in a traditional brass vessel. The aroma of karupatti, ghee and cardamom together is what Pongal smells like in every Tamil village.