Kitchen-Kollections

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervor & gaiety. Lakhs of people take a dip in places like Ganga Sagar & Prayag and pray to Lord Sun. It is celebrated with pomp in southern parts of the country as Pongal, and in Punjab is celebrated as Lohri & Maghi. Gujarati’s not only look reverentially up to the sun, but also offer thousands of their colorful oblations in the form of beautiful kites all over the skyline.

Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun-God of Hindus begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere. Sun for the Hindus stands for Pratyaksha-Brahman – the manifest God, who symbolizes, the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, glorious divinity blessing one & all tirelessly. Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the proverbial Wheel of Time. The famous Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted everyday by every faithful Hindu, is directed to Sun God to bless them with intelligence & wisdom. Sun not only represents God but also stands for an embodiment of knowledge & wisdom.
In Andhra Pradesh, it is celebrated as a three-day harvest festival Pongal. It is a big event for the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugus like to call it ‘Pedda Panduga’ meaning big festival. The whole event lasts for four days, the first day Bhogi, the second day Sankranti, the third day Kanuma and the fourth day, Mukkanuma. And chakkara pongali is one of the sweets which is made on this day! So here goes the recipe.

Chakkara pongali~~ 

Ingredients
 
1 cup rice
1/2 pesara pappu (Moong daal)
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup ghee
2 cups sugar
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 tbls.cashews nut pieces
1 tbls.of raisins(kismis)
1/2 ts.cardamom powder 
 
Method

• Fry rice and pesara pappu without ghee/oil. Fry coconut pieces till brownish and keep aside. Fry cashews and kismis in 1 ts.ghee and keep aside.
• Cook rice and moong daal together in a pressure cooker pouring 2 cups milk and 2 cups water.Cook little more than the ordinary rice (4 whistles)
• After the rice is cooked properly, remove the pressue cooker lid and ddd fried coconut pieces,sugar and mix well. Start stirring otherwise it starts burning from the bottom. Keep adding ghee while stirring. 
• Add cardamom powder,raisins and cashews. Stir well and remove.
• Chakkara Pongali is ready to eat.

There is also another version of the pongali- the spicy one. Pressure cook rice and dal with four cups of water. Fry peppercorns, inguva, curry leaves, jeera and salt and add this popu in the cooked rice and dal and mix well. The spicy version is ready.

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