Sweet Pongal (Bellam Pongali)

Sweet Pongal (Bellam Pongali)

Creamy and delicious sweet pongal is a quintessential dish made for Sankranthi festival in January. Flavored with warm spices, this dish tastes just like the one served at temples.

Author: Pavani

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: south indian

Servings: Servings

Ingredients

½ cup Moong dal/ Pesarapappu/ Green gram dal
1 cup Rice
2½ cups Water
1 cup Milk
1½~2 cups Jaggery, grated*
3 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Cashews
2 tablespoons Raisins
1¼ teaspoon Ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon Ground Cloves
¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
A few strands of Saffron

Instructions

Pressure Cooker Method:

Heat a pressure cooker on medium heat, dry roast the green gram dal for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Remove roasted dal into a sieve or bowl and wash it along with the rice.
Return dal and rice to the IP. Add water and milk, mix well. Cook without the whistle for 20~30 minutes on medium flame till rice and dal are very tender.
While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the jaggery syrup. Combine jaggery and water in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until jaggery dissolves and the syrup thickens a little bit, about 3~5 minutes.
Add the syrup to cooked rice and dal. Mix well.
Heat ghee in a small pan, add the cashews and raisins and fry till golden. Add this to the pongal. Finally stir in the ground cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron. Mix well and serve!!

Instant Pot Method:

Set Instant pot (IP) on 'Saute'. Add the moong dal and dry roast it for 2~3 minutes or until fragrant and the color changes to light golden brown. Turn off IP. Remove roasted dal into a sieve or bowl and wash it along with the rice.
Return dal and rice to the IP. Add water and milk, mix well. Set the IP to 'manual' or 'pressure cook' for 8 minutes. Once done, let the pressure naturally release for 15 minutes and then do a quick release.
While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the jaggery syrup. Combine jaggery and water in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until jaggery dissolves and the syrup thickens a little bit, about 3~5 minutes.
Add the syrup to cooked rice and dal. Mix well.
Heat ghee in a small pan, add the cashews and raisins and fry till golden. Add this to the pongal. Finally stir in the ground cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and saffron. Mix well and serve!!

Video

Notes

If you like a sweeter pongal, add more jaggery.
If you are making this sweet pongali recipe in the pressure cooker, then do not use the weight/ whistle. Milk will boil over if you cook with the whistle.
You can use 50:50 combination of jaggery and sugar in the recipe.
I prefer using jaggery powder because it is very convenient but you can use grated cubed jaggery.
Though not traditional, brown sugar or coconut sugar are acceptable alternatives to jaggery.
If the mixture looks too thick after adding the jaggery syrup, then add a little water or milk to thin it out. In this case, warm the mixture to heat it through.
Leftover pongal can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Warm briefly before serving.
To make vegan sweet pongal - use plant based milk, almond & oat would work beautifully. Also sub the ghee with vegan butter.

Nutrition

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