Pongal: celebrating the journey of the sun
They say nothing in this world comes easy and if you ask an Indian farmer, they can probably give you a never ending list of problems ranging from delayed monsoon to the step motherly treatment from the government but when it is time for harvest, the smiles on their faces is a sight to behold.
As the sun, the source of energy and light, takes his journey towards northward direction for the next six months, it marks the beginning of uttarayan. Pongal and Makara Sankranti are some of the names given to this festival in south India, which is to celebrate the harvest of sesame, turmeric, sugar cane, lentils, etc. It is in a way a seeking the blessing from sun for a better year ahead, void of famine, floods and other obstacles.
Although the festival is celebrated throughout India and Nepal, it has a special place in the hearts of south Indians. The word Pongal, itself mean ‘to boil’ in Tamil. It involves boiling of lentils and rice in a pot until it boils over and overflows, symbolising the abundance of the harvest.
Celebrated over three days, the first day of Pongal, called as Bhogi is about getting rid of all the old and unwanted things. People clean up their houses and burn all the rubbish and dirt accumulated over the year.Second day begins with worshipping of the Sun and women in the house usually decorate the house with rangoli made of rice flour. The milk is boiled and is allowed to overflow as an offering to the Sun.
On the third day, which is called the Mattu Pongal, the cattle are washed and decorated. They are revered for their help in the fields for ploughing and providing milk and fertilizers. It is worth mentioning that at many places, there are also beauty competitions held for the cattle and not to mention how seriously these competitions are taken.
The fourth day is called Kanum Pongal, when the whole family goes out for an outing. In fact, the word, Kanum means ‘to visit’. It is a time for the family to take a break from work in the fields and spending time with each other.
Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makara Sankranti in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is not just a festival but a worship and a thanksgiving to Mother Nature for the prosperity bestowed upon us. It is one of the very few Hindu festivals which involves direct worshipping of thenatural element(in this case, the sun).
Though the city life of today is far away from the fields and cattle, it is important to know where our actual source of energy, food is coming from. It is a time to appreciate the work that goes into farming and celebrate the most important and one of the oldest professions in the history of mankind, agriculture. We at IndianWeekender, wish our readers a very happy and a prosperous Pongal and Makara Sankranti.
Gnanasekaran
Happy Pongal to all. I work for Auckland transport and there are many South Indians working with me here. Although it is impossible to celebrate the Pongal in an elaborate way for four days, as in India, we try to get together at one place and celebrate the festival by cooking Pongal and later going out for an outing. That is the least we can do to follow the traditions passed to us by our previous generations.
Varun
In India, we distribute a mixture sesame seed, jiggery, ground nuts and dried coconut called ‘Ellu-bella’. We go to house of everyone we know and give them this mixture along with a sugar cane stem. It is a tradition that at least five people are given ‘Ellu-bella’ so I make it and give to my friends and colleagues around me. It gives me great satisfaction and pleasure explaining to everyone the significance of the prasadam and concept of the festival.
Samskruta
Wishing happy Pongal to all. First five after marriage is the grandest Makar Sankranti in one’s life for people of Karnataka. It is unfortunate that I can’t celebrate the festival in a big way even as I am getting into my second year of marriage. Having said that, I have special puja plans for Sankranti and plan to visit temple. I have also invited some friends for the dinner and plan to cook Pongal for them.
Lakshmi
Happy Pongal to all. I belong to a farmer’s family. It is a tradition in our family that we pray to cattle during Pongal. Without that, the festival is incomplete. Last year I went looking for a place where I could find cows for worship and at last,I ended up finding goshala in anISKCON temple. This year too, after puja I will go there and do Go-puja.
Recipes
What is a Pongal celebration without the traditional pongal on your dining table? Here is the recipe of the two authentic pongal recipes that require no more than moderate cooking skills to achieve authentic taste.
Khara Pongal or Ven Pongal recipe:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
Raw rice ½cup
Split yellow moong dal (pasi paruppu) ¼ cup
Cashew nuts
Salt - as needed
For the seasoning:
Ghee or oil, 1 ½tablespoon
Mustard seeds, 1tablespoon
Ginger finely chopped, 1 tablespoon
Cumin/ Jeera seeds, 1 tablespoon
Whole black pepper, 2 tablespoons (to be broken but not finely grounded)
Few curry leaves
Method
Step 1
Mix rice and dal, pressure cook adding salt, 2 1/2–3 cups of water for 4–5 whistles. The rice has to be cooked in such a way that it should be mushy.
Step2
Open the cooker and mash the contents well when it is still hot.
Step 3
Heat oil and ghee onto a pan and add mustard seeds, chopped ginger, pepper, jeera/cumin seeds, curry leaves.
Step4
Pour it over the rice and dal mix.
Step 5
Add fried cashew nuts and mix everything well on low flame for 2 minutes. Serve hot with sambar or coconut chutney.
Sweet/ Sakkarai Pongal recipe
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients
Rice ½ cup
Moong dal / pesara pappu? to ½ cup
Powdered or grated jaggery or palm sugar½ cup
Green cardamom powder? tablespoon
Small Pinch of edible camphor / pacha karpooram (optional)
Ghee 2 to 3 tablespoon (can reduce it to 1)
Raisins1 tablespoon
Cashews broken1 to 2 tablespoon
Cloves (optional) 1 to 2
A few coconut pieces sliced or chopped (optional)
Method
Step 1
Add moong dal and rice in pressure cooker. Pour 2 ¼ cups of water. Cook till soft or for 4 pressure cooker whistles.
Step 2
Pour ¼ cup water to grated jaggery. On a low flame stir and melt it.
Step 3
When the pressure from the cooker is down, remove the lid and mash the rice and dal mix.
Step 4
Filter jaggery syrup to the cooked rice-dal. Add green cardamom powder.
Step5
Mix and cook on a medium flame till the jaggery syrup blends with rice.
Step6
Heat a pan with ghee, add coconut pieces, cashews, clove and fry till golden, off the stove and add raisins. Mix this with the rice.
They say nothing in this world comes easy and if you ask an Indian farmer, they can probably give you a never ending list of problems ranging from delayed monsoon to the step motherly treatment from the government but when it is time for harvest, the smiles on their faces is a sight to behold.
...
They say nothing in this world comes easy and if you ask an Indian farmer, they can probably give you a never ending list of problems ranging from delayed monsoon to the step motherly treatment from the government but when it is time for harvest, the smiles on their faces is a sight to behold.
As the sun, the source of energy and light, takes his journey towards northward direction for the next six months, it marks the beginning of uttarayan. Pongal and Makara Sankranti are some of the names given to this festival in south India, which is to celebrate the harvest of sesame, turmeric, sugar cane, lentils, etc. It is in a way a seeking the blessing from sun for a better year ahead, void of famine, floods and other obstacles.
Although the festival is celebrated throughout India and Nepal, it has a special place in the hearts of south Indians. The word Pongal, itself mean ‘to boil’ in Tamil. It involves boiling of lentils and rice in a pot until it boils over and overflows, symbolising the abundance of the harvest.
Celebrated over three days, the first day of Pongal, called as Bhogi is about getting rid of all the old and unwanted things. People clean up their houses and burn all the rubbish and dirt accumulated over the year.Second day begins with worshipping of the Sun and women in the house usually decorate the house with rangoli made of rice flour. The milk is boiled and is allowed to overflow as an offering to the Sun.
On the third day, which is called the Mattu Pongal, the cattle are washed and decorated. They are revered for their help in the fields for ploughing and providing milk and fertilizers. It is worth mentioning that at many places, there are also beauty competitions held for the cattle and not to mention how seriously these competitions are taken.
The fourth day is called Kanum Pongal, when the whole family goes out for an outing. In fact, the word, Kanum means ‘to visit’. It is a time for the family to take a break from work in the fields and spending time with each other.
Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makara Sankranti in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is not just a festival but a worship and a thanksgiving to Mother Nature for the prosperity bestowed upon us. It is one of the very few Hindu festivals which involves direct worshipping of thenatural element(in this case, the sun).
Though the city life of today is far away from the fields and cattle, it is important to know where our actual source of energy, food is coming from. It is a time to appreciate the work that goes into farming and celebrate the most important and one of the oldest professions in the history of mankind, agriculture. We at IndianWeekender, wish our readers a very happy and a prosperous Pongal and Makara Sankranti.
Gnanasekaran
Happy Pongal to all. I work for Auckland transport and there are many South Indians working with me here. Although it is impossible to celebrate the Pongal in an elaborate way for four days, as in India, we try to get together at one place and celebrate the festival by cooking Pongal and later going out for an outing. That is the least we can do to follow the traditions passed to us by our previous generations.
Varun
In India, we distribute a mixture sesame seed, jiggery, ground nuts and dried coconut called ‘Ellu-bella’. We go to house of everyone we know and give them this mixture along with a sugar cane stem. It is a tradition that at least five people are given ‘Ellu-bella’ so I make it and give to my friends and colleagues around me. It gives me great satisfaction and pleasure explaining to everyone the significance of the prasadam and concept of the festival.
Samskruta
Wishing happy Pongal to all. First five after marriage is the grandest Makar Sankranti in one’s life for people of Karnataka. It is unfortunate that I can’t celebrate the festival in a big way even as I am getting into my second year of marriage. Having said that, I have special puja plans for Sankranti and plan to visit temple. I have also invited some friends for the dinner and plan to cook Pongal for them.
Lakshmi
Happy Pongal to all. I belong to a farmer’s family. It is a tradition in our family that we pray to cattle during Pongal. Without that, the festival is incomplete. Last year I went looking for a place where I could find cows for worship and at last,I ended up finding goshala in anISKCON temple. This year too, after puja I will go there and do Go-puja.
Recipes
What is a Pongal celebration without the traditional pongal on your dining table? Here is the recipe of the two authentic pongal recipes that require no more than moderate cooking skills to achieve authentic taste.
Khara Pongal or Ven Pongal recipe:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
Raw rice ½cup
Split yellow moong dal (pasi paruppu) ¼ cup
Cashew nuts
Salt - as needed
For the seasoning:
Ghee or oil, 1 ½tablespoon
Mustard seeds, 1tablespoon
Ginger finely chopped, 1 tablespoon
Cumin/ Jeera seeds, 1 tablespoon
Whole black pepper, 2 tablespoons (to be broken but not finely grounded)
Few curry leaves
Method
Step 1
Mix rice and dal, pressure cook adding salt, 2 1/2–3 cups of water for 4–5 whistles. The rice has to be cooked in such a way that it should be mushy.
Step2
Open the cooker and mash the contents well when it is still hot.
Step 3
Heat oil and ghee onto a pan and add mustard seeds, chopped ginger, pepper, jeera/cumin seeds, curry leaves.
Step4
Pour it over the rice and dal mix.
Step 5
Add fried cashew nuts and mix everything well on low flame for 2 minutes. Serve hot with sambar or coconut chutney.
Sweet/ Sakkarai Pongal recipe
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients
Rice ½ cup
Moong dal / pesara pappu? to ½ cup
Powdered or grated jaggery or palm sugar½ cup
Green cardamom powder? tablespoon
Small Pinch of edible camphor / pacha karpooram (optional)
Ghee 2 to 3 tablespoon (can reduce it to 1)
Raisins1 tablespoon
Cashews broken1 to 2 tablespoon
Cloves (optional) 1 to 2
A few coconut pieces sliced or chopped (optional)
Method
Step 1
Add moong dal and rice in pressure cooker. Pour 2 ¼ cups of water. Cook till soft or for 4 pressure cooker whistles.
Step 2
Pour ¼ cup water to grated jaggery. On a low flame stir and melt it.
Step 3
When the pressure from the cooker is down, remove the lid and mash the rice and dal mix.
Step 4
Filter jaggery syrup to the cooked rice-dal. Add green cardamom powder.
Step5
Mix and cook on a medium flame till the jaggery syrup blends with rice.
Step6
Heat a pan with ghee, add coconut pieces, cashews, clove and fry till golden, off the stove and add raisins. Mix this with the rice.
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