Sweet pongal is a delicious traditional South Indian dish made as naivedyam (prasad offering to god) on many festivals and auspicious days. Make this instant pot sweet pongal in under 30 minutes. It is called Sakkarai pongal in Tamil and Chakkara pongali in Telugu.
½cupShort grain riceshort to medium grain verity e.g sona masoori
3tablespoonsYellow moong dal (split and skinless)
4 + ½ cupsWater
¾cupJaggery (Gur)
¼teaspoonCardamom powder
Instructions
Turn on the instant pot with saute mode. Once hot add ghee and let it get heated up. Now add cashews and fry until light golden brown. Add raisins and fry until they are plumed up. Do stir constantly while frying cashews and raisins to get even browning.
Drain the excess ghee (by tilting the spoon on the side of the instant pot liner) and remove it to a bowl and keep it aside.
In the remaining ghee add rice and moong dal. Roast for 4 minutes with stirring constantly. You’ll notice a slight color change but do not brown them.
Now add 4 cups of water.
Close the instant pot with a lid. Keep the valve to sealing and pressure cook on manual (high pressure) for 10 minutes. Let it NPR (natural pressure release).
While it’s pressure cooking, heat the water in a microwave or on the stovetop to almost boiling point.
Take jaggery in a bowl and add boiling water. Stir until all the jaggery is melted and keep it aside.
Once the pin drops, open the lid. Rice and dal mixture should be cooked to mushy soft.
Now stir and mash with the back of the spatula.
Now strain the jaggery water directly into the cooked mixture.
Mix well. It looks runny and watery but that is fine. It will thicken as cools down.
Add fried cashews-raisins and cardamom powder.
Stir and let it rest covered for 10 minutes. During this resting time, it will thicken and you’ll get the right consistency of sweet pongal.
Notes
Roasting rice and dal is an essential step. So make sure to roast at least 4-5 minutes or until they get a light golden color. It adds a nice flavor and aroma to the dish.
The amount of ghee used here is in moderation. So don’t reduce it otherwise you’ll compromise the flavor.
If you are making this sakkarai pongal and/or ven pongal very frequently then you can dry roast the rice and dal ahead of time. Let it cool down and store in a container to save some time.
1 cup of water can be replaced with 1 cup of milk.
Sweet pongal will thicken as it cools down. So please follow the given amount of liquid to keep it loose even after cooling down. If you’re going to serve right away then you can reduce around ½ cup of water.
The water amount may vary depending on the rice type you are using. I have used sona masoori rice. Plus, if you are using freshly harvested rice then you’ll need less water. My rice was not fresh, it was just like the regular rice we buy from an Indian grocery store here in the USA.