Sakkarai Pongal, Sweet Pongal with Dates
Sakkarai pongal is the sweet counterpart to the savory ven pongal, cooked in South Indian homes and temples for the harvest festival that shares its name. The traditional dish is heavy with jaggery and ghee, but blended dates bring the same dark caramel sweetness with fiber intact, and dry-toasted cashews stand in for the ghee's richness. Cook the rice and moong until they properly collapse: this is a soft, spoonable dish, and the comfort is in the texture. Ground cardamom and a little nutmeg make it smell like a celebration.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup short grain brown rice
- 1/3 cup Mung beans
- 10 Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 cup Unsweetened soy milk
- 6 pods Green cardamom, seeds ground
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3 tbsp Raw cashews, halved
- 3 tbsp Raisins
- 1 pinch Nutmeg, grated
Method
- In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the mung beans for 3 minutes until they smell nutty. Toasting the moong before it cooks is a small step that gives sweet pongal its characteristic warm, roasted background.
- Rinse the toasted mung beans with the brown rice and combine in a pot with 3.5 cups (830 ml) water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 30 to 35 minutes until both are very soft and beginning to fall apart. Pongal should be soft and collapsing, not fluffy, so cook it well past the point of separate grains.
- While it cooks, blend the dates with the soy milk into a smooth paste. Dates carry the caramel depth that jaggery gives the traditional dish, and blending them means no grainy bits are left.
- When the rice and beans are soft, mash them lightly against the side of the pot. Pour in the date and soy milk paste and stir over low heat 5 minutes until it thickens and turns glossy. Keep the heat gentle so the milk does not catch.
- In a small dry pan, toast the cashews until golden, about 2 minutes, then add the raisins and let them plump for 30 seconds. Toasting the cashews dry gives the richness that ghee normally would.
- Stir the ground cardamom, ground ginger, and nutmeg into the pot, then fold in the cashews and raisins. Serve warm. It thickens as it sits, so loosen leftovers with a splash of soy milk when you reheat.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 285 calories, 7 g protein, 6 g fiber, 40 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
