Thinai Sakkarai Pongal | Millet Sweet Pongal Recipe | Pongal Festival Recipes

HAPPY PONGAL !!! 

Let us celebrate this pongal in a healthy way with millets!!! Healthy and nutritious thinai vellam pongal to you!!! 

I am not celebrating pongal with my family this time, so going to miss the big family pongal celebration with lots of chettinad menus and the hero dish of the pongal: Milk Pongal and Vegetable Curry. They make the pongal celebration amazing with lots of sugar cane!!! Everyone likes the vegetable curry made by my mom and I am surely going to miss it tomorrow!!! 

THINAI SAKKARAI/VELLAM PONGAL RECIPE

Recipe Category: S.Indian / Festival
Preparation Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Foxtail Millet / Thinnai - 1/2 cup
Moong Dhal / Pasiparuppu - 1/4 cup
Jaggery / Sugar - 1 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup, fresh, grated
Water - 3 cups
Ghee - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
Cashew Nuts - 10, broken
Raisins - 8

Notes:

• If you feel that your jaggery id of not pure quality and some residues may be found, its best to boil jaggery in water separately in an sauce pan, filter it and then add the jaggery water to the cooked millets
• You can follow the same recipe for other millets like barnyard and for raw rice. 
• The sweetness can be adjusted to suit your taste. 
• Instead of jaggery, sugar can also be used.
• Its optional to add cardamom powder and ginger powder in the end. I don't like the flavours, so I skip from using it. 

Method of Preparation:

1. Measure thinnai, wash and soak for 10 minutes. Dry roast the pasiparuppu/moong dhal till it turns golden brown and aroma is released. Remove and add to the soaked thinai. Drain the water and keep it ready. In the same pan, heat ghee, add broken cashew nuts and raisins. Roast till golden brown. Remove and keep aside in a bowl.

2. In the same pan, add water and bring it to rolling boil. Add the thinai and moong dhal. Let it cook covered for 10-15 minutes in medium heat. In between open the cover, and stir. Check for the consistency and doneness of the millet. To Check*** Press the millet and see if its soft and cooked. 

3. When the millet is cooked, add jaggery or sugar. It will dissolve and make it liquid. Let it cook in low heat. Add the roasted cashew-nuts and raisins. Then grated coconut. Mix well and let it cook for a minute. Then add ghee and remove from heat when the desired consistency is reached.

Remove from heat once it reaches the desired consistency. Some prefers it dry, then cook a couple of minutes extra else remove when some liquid is still there.

Serving Suggestion:

In my home, we always serve Sweet Pongal with Vadai and Sambar.

Linking to Shobs kitchen Event.