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Pongal (Festive Sweet Rice)
The major harvest festival in southern India occurs in January. During the first three days of the festival every house-front is decorated with intricate kolams, the Hindu designs of welcome. These are traditionally fashioned from rice or colored limestone. On the second day of the festival each household prepares pongal, to be offered first to the gods, then to cattle and crows (believed to be returning souls), after which the villagers themselves partake of the feast. To be truly authentic, the dish must Pongal ("overflow" in Tamil) as the ritual celebrates the abundance of the harvest.
1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong daal (mung beans)
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
15-20 cashews chopped
1/2 cup ghee
1 cup raisins
1 cup fresh grated coconut
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
seeds of 6 cardamom pods, ground
Dry roast moong daal lightly over a low heat in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Mix daal with rice and wash thoroughly. Put milk and water in a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Add rice and daal and cook, stirring until it's a soft mass and the liquid is fully absorbed. Add sugar and cook over a low heat until dissolved. Add 4 tsp pf ghee and stir until a sticky consistency is acheived. Heat remaining ghee in a frying pan and lightly fry the coconut, cashews and raisins for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle this mixture over pongal along with nutmeg and cardamom and serve warm.
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