(Image source from: Andhra special Pongal recipe for Sankranthi})

Sankranthi or Pongali is a symbol to the agriculture and wealth. It is a harvest festival. The festival is celebrated by farmers after bring home the harvest products. This, the special Sankranthi sweet or Pongal sweet is prepared on the occasion of festival. Ingredients used like rice comes from harvest, while milk comes from cattle wealth, both marking the harvest festival.

Ingredients required for Pongal recipe

Milk: 1L (3% Milk Fat)
Rice from New Harvest: 25gms (5tsps)
Cream: 200gms (25Milk Fat Low Fat Cream)
Grated Jaggery: 90gms (5Tbsps)
Cardamoms: 5

How to make Pongal sweet?

•Take a heavy bottomed pan.
•Add milk and cream.
•Allow the milk to boil on medium flame.
•Once milk reaches boil, add rice into the pan.
•Cook, while stirring.
•Keep scraping the sides of the milk vessel occasionally to avoid the reduced milk sticking onto the sides.
•Once the milk is reduced to one fourth, cook only on low flame.
•Keep stirring to stop the sticking of rice to the bottom of the pan.
•Once the rice gets cooked completely, allow for few more minutes to let the mixture thicken.
•Ensure that the milk is not reduced much, as it gets thicken on cooling.
•Switch off the flame.
•Now add jaggery to the pan. The heat melts jaggery.
•Add cardamom and mix.

-Sumana