Barnyard millet/Jhangora/Kuthiraivaali sweet pongal

Kuthiraivaali sweet pongal

I am happily witnessing PONGAL/MAKAR SANKRANTHI preparations all around and I wanted to give a healthy version of Pongal which is definitely a ROYAL treat. This is my mother’s recipe and I just love it. She usually makes it with raw rice and rock candy(Karkandu). We tried a modified version of it with millet and palm sugar. It came out so well and it was just yummy. To know the benefits of barnyard millet/Kuthiraivalli please refer here. 

Kuthiraivaali sweet Pongal

Ingredients:

• Barnyard Millet-1 cup
• Palm sugar-1 cup(powdered & sieved)
• Ghee-5 tbsp
• Dry fruits-1 tbsp
• Cardamom powder-1 pinch(Optional)
• Saffron-5 strands
• Milk-1/2 cup(Optional)

Procedure:

1. Wash and rinse millet well.

2. Soak it for 30 minutes. Soak in saffron in warm milk/warm water.

3.In the meantime powder palm sugar and sieve it to remove impurities.

4. Pressure cook the millet with 2 cups of water for 5 whistles.

5. The millet would have turned mushy but still will retain shape.

6. Heat a pan and add 1 spoon of ghee and saute dry fruits.

7. Add milk little by little and stir well. The millet should completely be mixed with milk.

8.In the same pan add another tbsp of ghee and add the cooked millet+milk mixture. Ensure that there are no lumps before adding to ghee.

9.When it begins to thicken add the powdered palm sugar gradually and mix well.

10.Keep adding ghee and stirring as and when you find the pongal getting thickened/sticking to the pan.

11.Add saffron and cook for 10 more minutes  until it gets completely thick.

12.Add the dry fruits and serve it hot.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY PONGAL!A SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERY FARMER OUT THERE WHO WORKS HARD TO FILL OUR TUMMY 🙂


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Notes:

You can replace milk with water too.

You can replace palm sugar with white sugar too.

Any millet or any variety of rice can be used instead of barnyard millet.

Ensure that the millet is cooked 90% before adding it to ghee in step 7.

The cooking time and water required may vary depending on the brand you use.

The colour depends on the millet, palm sugar and ghee.

Keep stirring until the Pongal is completely done.

Adding ghee then and there enhances flavour and helps in cooking well too.

Ensure that there are no lumps in palm sugar.

Ensure that milk added is completely blended with milk.

Use full cream milk after boiling and cooling.

Cook the entire dish in medium flame.

This can be given for babies above 1 or 1.5 years.

Always have a word with your doctor before offering any new food to the baby.

Do consider family history of allergies before introducing a new ingredient.

The images are from two trials. So there may be slight variations. I am sorry for a not so good picture.