Pongal 2023: Makar Sankranti falls within the ‘Posh‘ month of the Hindu calendar, when the solar begins its journey northwards. It is a superb alternative for foodies to get their arms on all sorts of sweets from all throughout India throughout this time, as Sankranti festivities are largely associated to traditions in meals and harvest, from peethe in Bengal to til gud ke laddoo in Maharashtra and Karnataka, and to pongal in Tamil Nadu. The harvest pageant celebrated within the south known as Pongal. In Tamil, the phrase ‘pong‘ means ‘boil over’ or ‘spill over.’ In this text, we are going to speak about pongal (festive meals with the identical identify of the south Indian pageant – Pongal), preparations for ‘Pongal Bhojanam‘ (Pongal lunch meal) recipes, and the importance of the four-day lengthy festivities down south.
Pongal, also called Thai Pongal, is widely known on the day the solar begins to maneuver northwards, much like the favored harvest pageant of the North – Makar Sankranti. The interval known as Uttarayanam and is taken into account auspicious.
The first day, ‘Bhogi‘, is widely known on the final day of the month of ‘Margazhi.’ On today, folks purchase new vessels and other people clear and beautify their home. Moreover, there’s a custom to ‘burn down’ issues which might be thought-about to be previous to make room for brand new issues. The second day known as ‘Perum Pongal‘, whereby folks worship the Sun God, Lord Surya. Devotees beautify the central courtyard of their home with lovely kolams, performed with rice flour and bordered with pink clay. On today, folks make chakkra pongal (candy pongal dish) with newly harvested rice and jaggery early within the morning in the course of the dawn that’s precisely the time when the brand new month is born.
The third day is ‘Mattu Pongal‘, whereby cattle are worshiped that assist farmers in farming. On today, the cows are bathed and adorned with vermilion and garlands and fed effectively. The fourth and final day known as ‘Kaanum Pongal‘. It is that a part of the pageant when households collect on the riverbanks and revel in a luxurious meal collectively. Moreover, folks additionally carry out many conventional dances comparable to kummi and kolattam. There can also be a practice to prepare dinner newly-harvested grains for the primary time on today. The day is stuffed with wealthy and eternal style of all of the festive meals ready for the auspicious event of Pongal.
Pongal Recipes: Here we provide you with a couple of recipes which might be a part of ‘Pongal Sapad‘ or ‘Pongal Bhojanam‘ (Pongal lunch meal):
The meal consists of candy and salty Pongal, dry vegetable (poriyal/palya), vegetable gravy (kuzhambu/koora), savoury fritters, spicy salad, papads and pickles.
These recipes are usually ready throughout Pongal, however may also be made on different festive events. The meal is historically eaten on a banana leaf. Eating on banana leaf is historically thought-about to have loads of well being advantages.
1. Mendu Wada
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- White urad dal – 1 cup (soaked for two hours)
- Ginger – 1 (1 inch measurement)
- Green chilli – 1 (finely chopped)
- Coriander leaves – small bunch (finely chopped)
Method
1. Soak urad dal for about 2 hours. Strain the water from urad dal.
2. Now, grind dal and ginger in a blender until you get a clean batter. Make positive you add little water whereas grinding the dal. Transfer the batter to a bowl.
3. Add salt, inexperienced chillies and chopped coriander and blend effectively to make medu vada batter.
5. Cover the vada batter and permit it to relaxation.
6. Preheat the oil in a pan for deep frying the medu vada.
7. Deep fry the vadas and serve them sizzling and crispy.
2. Puzhi Kozhambu
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: half-hour
Ingredients:
- Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- 1 sprig curry leaves, roughly torn
- Pearl onions (sambar onions) – 1/2 cup (quartered)
- Tomatoes – 2 (would not must be finely chopped)
- Elephant yam (senai kizhangu) – 200 grams (peeled and chopped)
- Tamarind water – 1 cup
- Sambar powder – 1 tsp
- Jaggery – 1 tbsp
- Gingelly o- 1 tsp
- Salt, to style
Method
1. Heat oil in a pan over medium flame; add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and permit them to crackle.
2. Add curry leaves and onions and saute till the onions are evenly tender. Once the onions are evenly cooked, add the remaining elements and add 1/2 cup of water.
3. Cover the vessel and prepare dinner until the elements get tender and switch off the warmth.
3. Thair Pachadi
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Curd – 200 grams
- Onion – 2 (reduce into cubes)
- Tomatoes – 2 (reduce into cubes)
- Green chillies – 2 (reduce into small items)
- Curry leaves, coriander leaves
- Salt to style
- Ghee – 1 tsp
- Mustard seeds
Method
1. Add ghee to a vessel and warmth it.
2. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, onion tomatoes and inexperienced chillies and barely saute them.
3. Switch off the range and add some curd, coriander leaves and salt. Thair Pachadi is able to be savoured.
4. Avial
Preparation time: quarter-hour
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Ghee – 1 tsp
- Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Salt to style
- Curry leaves
- Coriander leaves
- All seasonal greens: contemporary inexperienced peas, broad beans seeds, cluster beans, carrot, beans, yam, small yam, arbi, candy potatoes, potatoes, brinjal, drumsticks, uncooked bananas, mango. (Wash and steam all of the greens.)
- Coconut – 1 complete
- Small onion – 1 piece
- Green chillies – 3 complete
- Ginger – 1 inch
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Method
1. Wash and chop greens into small items and steam them.
2. Grind coconut, small onion, inexperienced chillies, ginger and cumin seeds to make a delicate paste.
3. Heat one tsp ghee in a broad vessel, add mustard seeds and floor coconut masala. Cook them for jiffy after which swap off the range.
4. Add steamed greens, curd and washed curry leaves.
5. Slightly warmth 1 tablespoon coconut oil and add to the Avail, add salt, coriander leaves and serve it sizzling.
5. Brinjal And Drumstick Sambar
Preparation time: quarter-hour
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Tuar dal – 1 cup (cooked delicate)
- Tamarind – 1 small lemon measurement (take out the pulp together with 1 glass of water)
- Brinjal – 2 (reduce them lengthwise and steams it)
- Drumsticks – 2 (reduce into 3 cm size and steam it)
- Tomatoes – 2 (reduce into cubes)
- 1 Onion – reduce into cubes
- Curry leaves – 12
- Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
- Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
- Samar powder – 3 tablespoons
- Salt to style
- Ghee – 2 tsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Hing – 1/4 tsp
Method
1. Soak tuar dal for six hours and prepare dinner it.
2. Heat ghee in a vessel, add mustard seeds to it. Now, add onion and curry leaves and saute them effectively in low flame. Add tomatoes and saute it until they change into delicate.
3. Add hing, turmeric powder and sambar powder and prepare dinner them for a couple of seconds. Add tamarind pulp water, carry it to boil and add cooked and mashed dal, steamed drumsticks and brinjal.
4. Allow sambar to boil for 3 extra minutes after which add coriander leaves and little hing. Add salt as per your style. Remove it from the flame and serve with sizzling rice.
6. Sweet Pongal
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: half-hour
Ingredients
- Rice – 1 cup
- Green gram dal – 1/3 cup
- Powdered jaggery – 1-1/2 cups
- Water – 5 cups
- Cashewnuts – 1 tbsp
- Ghee – 1/4 cup
- Raisins – 1 tbsp
- Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
Method
1. Roast gram dal in a pan until it turns gentle brown.
2. Now, wash the roasted dal together with rice and soak them for one hour.
3. Strain dal and rice.
4. Boil three cups of water and add dal and rice.
4. Cook for about 10 minutes.
5. Take a shallow pan and add half cup and jaggery to it. Melt the jaggery in it.
6. Remove the filth by straining it and warmth it as soon as once more until you get a thick consistency.
7. Now, combine cooked rice-dal combination into it and carry on a medium flame for jiffy.
8. Fry cashew nuts and raisins individually in ghee. Mix it with the cooked pongal and add cardamom powder to it.
9. Your candy pongal is able to be savoured.
Happy Pongal, everybody!
(Author Bio: The creator is an Art of Living Ayurvedic cooking professional and creator of the favored work – ‘Sattva The Ayurvedic Cook Book.’)
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