Harvest special: Four Pongal recipes to whip up for family and friends this weekend  

Sakkarai pongal dish 

This preparation is used as offerings to the deity.

o Easily prepared with limited steps, start by boiling 100ml of water and melt in 250 gms of 24 Mantra Organic jaggery powder till you see a syrup-like consistency.
o In a separate vessel, cook 100gms each of organic rice and Moong Dal in 200ml water after dry roasting them till golden.
o When the rice is half done, add 200 ml of coconut milk and cook.
o Once cooked, add the jaggery syrup and 1/4th tsp cardamom powder and mix well and turn off the heat for a sweet pongal dish.
o For the garnish, stir fry 1/4th cups each of almond, raisins, and cashews in 200 gms of ghee, till golden brown.

Ven/ Khara pongal dish  

This is the salty version of pongal dish.

o In a pressure cooker, heat 100gms of ghee and stir fry 1 cup organic rice and ½ cup moong dal for 3 minutes.
o Add 4 cups of curry leaf infused water, salt and pressure cook it till 3 whistles.
o In a separate pan, stir fry 100 gms ghee, fistful cashew nuts, 1 green chilli, 1 pinch asafoetida, 1 inch chopped ginger, few curry leaves and 1 tsp each of peppercorns and cumin seeds for a minute.
o Pour this tadka over the cooked rice and your pongal dish is ready.
 

Puli pongal dish (tamarind rice):

Tamarind (Puli) rice pongal dish gets its name from its colour.

o In a pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add 1 tbsp urad dal, 1 split green chili, 1 dry red chilli, 1 tsp grated ginger, ¼ tsp asafoetida, and 8 curry leaves and stir fry for a minute.o Now add tamarind paste (made out of ¼ cup tamarind and ½ cup water) and cook for 2 minutes.
o Next, mix in 3 cups of steamed 24 Mantra Organic rice and salt and cook for 5 minutes.

Sugarcane pongal dish:
o In a pressure cooker, add 1 cup dry roasted organic moong dal, 2 cups organic rice, 4 cups each of sugarcane juice and water, cook till 3 whistles.
o Heat ½ cup ghee in a pan and stir fry ½ cup chopped dates, 4 tbsp chopped cashews, ½ tsp cardamom powder and cook for a minute.
o Add this to the rice and mix well.