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    Home » Recipes » Pongal Recipes

    Kalkandu pongal recipe, how to make kalkandu pongal

    December 18, 2009 by Raks Anand 51 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Kalkandu pongal is a south Indian sweet prepared with rice, dal and sugar candy and ghee as main ingredients.

    Kalkandu pongal recipe
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    • Recipe card

    Kalkandu pongal (sugar candy pongal) is one of my hubby’s favorite sweet, I make this now and then. So thought of posting here.

    My mom make sakkarai pongal often, but MIL makes this often. Sometimes for special occasions, sometimes, in ordinary days too!

    I have added half kalkandu and half sugar as they say too much of kalkandu may not suit some people.

    kalkandu pongal recipe

    How to make kalkandu pongal step by step method

    1. Powder the kalkandu and sugar and keep aside. This is totally an optional step, as I don't like the sound of kalkandu while stirring in it, I follow this step 😉Kalkandu pongal recipe step 1
    2. Fry paasi paruppu with a drizzle of ghee till nice aroma comes,in a pressure cooker directly. (You can skip this step as well) Wash rice and add it along with water,use 1:4 ratio(so I added 2 cups here).
    3. Pressure cook for 4 whistles and after done, mash it by adding milk.
      Kalkandu pongal recipe step 2
    4. Keep again the cooker, over heat and add the powdered kalkandu & sugar. Add saffron and edible camphor at this stage, if adding.
    5. Soak saffron in milk before adding. Keep stirring adding ghee in between,for 5-8 minutes in medium low heat.
    6. Add Cardamom lastly and fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and mix in to the pongal . Kalkandu pongal recipe step 3

    My hubby never likes elachi, cashew nuts or raisins in any of the sweets, so I never add too. Just garnished for photo sake 😉

    I have not added saffron and edible camphor too, but it adds a real nice flavour. You can use milk in place of water too for richness.

    Kalkandu pongal

    Check out my video

    Recipe card

    Kalkandu pongal
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    5 from 3 votes

    Kalkandu pongal recipe

    Kalkandu pongal is a south Indian sweet prepared with rice, dal and sugar candy and ghee as main ingredients.
    Course Sweets
    Cuisine Indian, South Indian
    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Servings 4 people
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup Raw rice
    • 1 tablespoon Moong dal Paasi paruppu
    • ¾ cup Sugar + sugar candy kalkandu (together in equal ratio)
    • ¼ cup Ghee You can half the ghee if you want
    • ¼ cup Milk
    • 1 Cardamom powdered
    • 1 tablespoon Raisins optional
    • 5 Cashew nuts
    • 1 Edible camphor Mustard size, optional
    • 5 Saffron strands Optional
    • Salt a generous pinch
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Powder the kalkandu and sugar and keep aside. This is totally an optional step, as I don't like the sound of kalkandu while stirring in it, I follow this step.
    • Fry paasi paruppu with a drizzle of ghee till nice aroma comes, in a pressure cooker directly. (You can skip this step as well)
    • Wash rice and add it along with water, use 1:4 ratio(so I added 2 cups here).
    • Pressure cook for 4 whistles and after done, mash it by adding milk.
    • Keep again the cooker, over heat and add the powdered kalkandu & sugar. 
    • Add saffron and edible camphor at this stage, if adding. Soak saffron in milk before adding. 
    • Keep stirring adding ghee in between,for 5-8 minutes in medium low heat.
    • Add cardamom lastly. Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and mix in to the pongal.

    Notes

    • You can increase dal  quantity, but you need to add more water or milk to prevent it from getting thick and dry.
    • Amount of ghee is purely your choice.
    • Kalkandu sadam version without any extra ingredients can also be made. Only rice, kalkandu. 
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    Other Pongal Festival Recipes

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    • Wheat rava sweet pongal recipe | Godhuma rava sweet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. LG

      December 18, 2009 at 6:39 am

      ahaaa...delicious! it looks. Shall I come over?

      Reply
    2. lata raja

      December 18, 2009 at 6:44 am

      You don't even need to powder the kalkandu RAKS adhuvae karainjudum!! Delicious and with such an inviting click, who wouldn't ask for another helping???

      Reply
    3. Sushma Mallya

      December 18, 2009 at 6:47 am

      wow what a beautiful click raks...supberb and delicious pongal..its like ages i havent prepared it...urs is looking so tempting that i got to try out this one soon

      Reply
    4. Divya Vikram

      December 18, 2009 at 7:02 am

      I make kalkandu saatham almost the same way! Sinfully yummy!

      Reply
    5. jayasri

      December 18, 2009 at 7:58 am

      well, reminds me of old times, my sis-in-law taught me this, looks so delicious, I used to do it as lata said, I used collect lot of kalkandu going to shardamba temple, and Of course no need to say, beautiful click, so inviting..

      Reply
    6. Nags

      December 18, 2009 at 8:07 am

      if rightly made, pongal can be the best food on earth! i am not very good at it, my two attempts were just mediocre..

      Reply
    7. Sreelekha Sumesh

      December 18, 2009 at 8:10 am

      Yummmyyy..so beautiful pics and delicious!

      Reply
    8. Pari

      December 18, 2009 at 8:14 am

      The click invites me to try this right now.

      Reply
    9. Sharmilee! :)

      December 18, 2009 at 8:24 am

      Wow looks great,kalkandu in pongal is a great idea am sure it wud taste great!

      Reply
    10. Priya

      December 18, 2009 at 9:10 am

      Wow Raks mouthwatering dish, i never grounded kalkandu, my mom used to add them directly..tempting click dear..

      Reply
    11. jayasree

      December 18, 2009 at 9:53 am

      Mouthwatering pics...

      Reply
    12. shaliniv

      December 18, 2009 at 10:08 am

      sinfully yummmmmmm......
      a few strands of saffron and it would make the dish look ROYAL!!!

      Reply
    13. Chitra

      December 18, 2009 at 11:24 am

      Very nice..Looks yummy !

      Reply
    14. Aruna Manikandan

      December 18, 2009 at 11:54 am

      Love this Pongsl.
      Going to give a try soon...

      Reply
    15. Tina

      December 18, 2009 at 12:01 pm

      Soooo tempting dear..Never tried this..Looks yummyyy.

      Reply
    16. Kitchen Flavours

      December 18, 2009 at 1:07 pm

      Wow...that looks extremely yum....

      Reply
    17. Sarah Naveen

      December 18, 2009 at 1:35 pm

      Beautiful pic..Looks like its right in front of me...yummy yummmm

      Reply
    18. Shri

      December 18, 2009 at 1:39 pm

      Gorgeous click(1st one).Mouthwatering!

      Reply
    19. A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine

      December 18, 2009 at 2:04 pm

      Absolutely delicious, beautiful click.

      Reply
    20. Happy cook

      December 18, 2009 at 2:26 pm

      I remember eating those suagar just like thatwhen i was at home.
      Looks yumm.

      Reply
    21. Preeti Kashyap

      December 18, 2009 at 2:57 pm

      very nice recipe....shd try out...looks yum!

      Reply
    22. Pavithra

      December 18, 2009 at 3:33 pm

      Mmmmmmmmm lovely click and I love it so much. I guess Even god love this fantastic mouthwatering prasadam.

      Reply
    23. Cham

      December 18, 2009 at 4:54 pm

      That is a pure bliss if we have hot! Pretty much like kalkandu sadam, beautiful ....

      Reply
    24. Priya Narasimhan

      December 18, 2009 at 6:02 pm

      lovely photos..this used to be my fav too though the recipe is a bit different..will try to veganise it.

      Reply
    25. Priya

      December 18, 2009 at 7:06 pm

      luks perfect...I luv the way u add milk and dal..i m gonna try this

      Reply
    26. Sailaja Damodaran

      December 18, 2009 at 9:31 pm

      Congrats once again & thanks for the feast......visualy taken a cup not a spoon......yummy

      Reply
    27. kothiyavunu

      December 18, 2009 at 10:09 pm

      Looks so yummy, its been a while anybody mentioned kalkandu pongal to me...lovely sweet.

      Reply
    28. Uma

      December 18, 2009 at 11:21 pm

      omg, what a tempting pongal! Beautiful click!!

      Reply
    29. Sumathi

      December 19, 2009 at 12:59 am

      Looks delicious and tempting.. Great clicking..

      Reply
    30. Shobana senthilkumar

      December 19, 2009 at 5:11 am

      Raks...pongal super....really tempts me a lot:)

      Reply
    31. Anu

      December 19, 2009 at 6:13 am

      Very nice recipe.. Nice click..

      Reply
    32. Dershana

      December 19, 2009 at 1:44 pm

      very nice!

      Reply
    33. Prathibha

      December 19, 2009 at 4:36 pm

      loooks sinfully delicious dear..never knew that kalakand can be addded to this sweet...

      Reply
    34. SE(Denufood)

      December 19, 2009 at 10:08 pm

      very tempting.. i must say...gr8 click

      Reply
    35. my kitchen

      December 20, 2009 at 9:31 am

      Pongal rommba nalla vanthirukku

      Reply
    36. vidhas

      December 20, 2009 at 11:41 am

      Yummy kalkandu pongal!!!

      Asusual great click.

      Reply
    37. Malar Gandhi

      December 20, 2009 at 2:35 pm

      I love kalkandu pongal...they are delicious.

      Such a wonderful click, looks so yummm:)

      Reply
    38. Dolly

      December 21, 2009 at 4:18 am

      Delicious Pongal. Beautiful Click.

      Reply
    39. Ammu

      December 21, 2009 at 4:20 pm

      Nice click. Delicious & yum 🙂

      Reply
    40. Mythreyi Dilip

      December 22, 2009 at 11:51 am

      Oh, i wanted to try this pongal for very long time. Looks so pure and rich, thanks for the recipe. Drool worthy one:)

      Reply
    41. Cilantro

      December 22, 2009 at 6:36 pm

      Amma made this often. It tastes different when made with plain sugar, I have kalkandu with me and should try soon. Amma added the whole kalkandu and never powdered them.

      Reply
    42. Gita

      December 23, 2009 at 2:04 am

      Pongal looks so yummy Raks...wonderful presentation 🙂

      Reply
    43. Mahimaa's kitchen

      December 23, 2009 at 3:21 am

      absolutely delicious.. looks soooo good raks. its my fav too.

      Reply
    44. Bharathy

      December 23, 2009 at 6:07 am

      Comment podaleye Ozhiye annikke pannitten...Book Mark! 🙂

      Reply
    45. Bharathy

      December 23, 2009 at 6:08 am

      Choc cookie romba easy..nane first time attempt..in fact sis got me the chip from Singapore only...:)

      Reply
    46. Soma

      December 23, 2009 at 11:25 pm

      Raks

      Happy Holidays & Happy New year to you and your loved ones.

      Soma(www.ecurry.com)

      Reply
    47. Anupama

      December 26, 2009 at 1:02 am

      Raks, the pongal looks too good.. I've only had this at temples so far

      Reply
    48. Mangala Bhat

      December 29, 2009 at 3:02 am

      Ahaaa! Love it ..pics r mindblowing amazingly fantastic...bookmarked !

      Reply
    49. Silpa

      January 08, 2010 at 5:02 pm

      wow11 yummy. i love this dish my mom used to do this on every Friday.

      Reply
    50. Recipe world

      January 14, 2012 at 7:59 am

      Wow, super delicious pongal to celebrate the festival! Wish you Happy Pongal dear..

      Cheers!
      Vani

      Reply
    51. Preeti Kashyap

      July 26, 2013 at 10:12 am

      This is the first time i have heard of it...yummm

      Reply

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    Raks anand

    Hi, I'm Rajeswari Vijayanand! I am the person behind Rakskitchen, sharing recipes with pictures & videos.

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