Sakkarai Ponggal/Sweet Rice

Sakkarai ponggal or sweet rice is a must to make dish during Ponggal festival(harvest festival). Every household have their own recipe of ponggal. Some add toasted coconut bit,cooked moong dhal or replace jaggery with brown sugar.

I'm sharing my version of sakkarai ponggal today without added moong dhal or tasted coconut instead, i added a small pinch of edible camphor or pachai karpooram. Edible camphor can be purchased in most Indian groceries and always make sure to use a very little pinch of it in your cooking as the flavor and smell are really strong yet, a little bit of it goes a long way to enhance the flavor in this delicious ponggal. Sweet,delicious and easy to prepare ponggal is ready to serve as neiveidhyam to your idols.

Ingredients

1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup grated jaggery
3 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp cashews,broken
1 tbsp almonds.remove skin and chopped into pieces
Pinch of edible camphor


Methods

In a pan, melt jaggery with 1/4 cup water. Strain to remove impurities.Keep aside

Wash rice and drain excess water. Add 2 1/3 cup water and cook till soft. Using a back of spoon, mash the rice.

Add the melted jaggery and stir to combine. Add cardamom powder and cook for 2-3 minutes.Add edible camphor,fried cashews,almond pieces and raisins. Stir and remove from heat.

Serve hot or warm.