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    Home » Recipes » Pongal Recipes

    Sakkarai pongal recipe (Sweet pongal recipe)

    October 17, 2012 by Raks Anand 76 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Sakkarai pongal recipe, a temple style flavorful sweet pongal with jaggery, edible camphor, cardamom, cloves and the essential ghee and cashew nuts.

    sakkarai-pongal-recipe
    Sakkarai pongal, sweet pongal

    Rice and dal cooked with the secret ingredients like edible camphor, nutmeg and clove make it smell and taste DIVINELY. I really mean it, you will definitely agree with me once you try this!

    You can also check my easy aval sakkarai pongal recipe in my website for a quick version. Don't forget to check my kovil puliyodharai to go with this.

    Jump to:
    • Occasions
    • Top tip
    • Recipe card
    • Stepwise photos

    This is one of my favorite mom’s staple recipe next to her sweet boondi. I made this few times now and got appreciation too from everyone. Recently like when I made it for our home Grahapravesham at our home in Kumbakonam.

    So from then I wanted to post it here in my blog. I already have a sakkarai pongal recipe in my ulundu vadai post. But its plain and simple without all those special ingredients.

    I have made this in pressure cooker, but can be made in the traditional way by boiling rice and dal and adding jaggery to it too (like I have updated in the video).

    Before marriage, me, my mom and our neighbor used to do this pongal in pot in a temple (Kottai mariyamman koil) in Salem.

    Every month we used to carry the ingredients and make pongal back of the temple, offer it to god and after that we distribute all the pongal there itself in the temple.

    We just take a ladle full for ourselves. Other than that we distribute everything there. The vengala panai (Bronze pot) gets empty in no time. We come back home with heart full of satisfaction.

    sakkarai pongal recipe
    Sakkarai pongal

    Occasions

    Sweet pongal is made in many occasions other than pongal festival. For a Friday offering, aadi perukku, Ganesh chaturthi, Varalakshmi viradham etc.

    Not that you can make for your family for a special breakfast. You can pair it with savory rava pongal.

    Top tip

    You can choose to boil the syrup until half string consistency and add to pongal for a shiny sakkarai pongal.

    If you feel something is missing in taste, it will definitely be the sweet taste. So add more jaggery or if you are okay, one or 2 tablespoon of sugar for a quick fix.

    The measurements given will be perfect, but some jaggery are less sweet or more sweet depending on it's quality. So add more accordingly.

    Make it watery so that the pongal remains loose even after it cools down. It thickens as it cools.

    You can reduce ghee and just top some melted ghee over while serving. Adding lots of ghee also spoils the taste, especially when it cools down.

    So I suggest always to heat it up and serve hot for both taste as well as texture.

    Recipe card

    sakkarai pongal recipe
    Print Pin
    5 from 11 votes

    Sakkarai pongal recipe

    Sakkarai pongal recipe, a temple style flavourful sweet pongal with jaggery, edible camphor, cardamom, cloves and the essential ghee and cashew nuts.
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Indian
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 40 minutes
    Servings 4
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup Raw rice
    • 2 tablespoon Moong dal/ pasi paruppu
    • ¾  cup Jaggery
    • 2 & ½ cups Water
    • 3 tablespoon Ghee
    • 1 pinch Salt
    • 6 Cashews
    • 2 tablespoon Raisin
    • 1 Elachi
    • 1 Cloves
    • 1 pinch Nutmeg powder
    • 1 fenugreek sized Edible camphor*
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Take pressure cooker/ pan, add ¼ teaspoon ghee and roast the moong dal.
    • Add water, washed rice and salt. Pressure cook for 4 whistles. Mash it once done.
    • Powder jaggery and heat it with water just to immerse it and bring to boil. Let the jaggery completely dissolve and  filter it and add to the  mashed rice in the cooker.
    • In a separate pan, heat a teaspoon of ghee and roast cashews to golden and add raisins to it.
    • Once it fluffs up, transfer it and keep aside.
    • In the same pan, add cloves, elachi and switch off the stove.
    • Add nutmeg powder, give a quick stir.
    • Take out elachi and powder it, add the powdered elachi, edible camphor, cloves along with nutmeg powder to the pongal.
    • Mix well and cook in medium flame for 5 minutes.
    • Add ¼ cup water or milk if it gets dry while cooking.
    • Add ghee little by little while cooking.
    • Lastly add the fried cashews and raisins.

    Video

    Notes

    • I used old rice, so needed water at the ratio of 1 : 5. If your rice is new and gets cooked easily, 1 : 4 is enough for this pressure cooker method.
    • After opening the cooker, if the rice is too dry, add ¼ cup water or milk while mashing. After cooling down, gets thick, so switch off the flame accordingly.
    • I grate nutmeg and roast it in ghee while I roast cloves/elachi / cashews. When you do so, you should make sure to add the grated nutmeg after you switch off the stove. Otherwise, it may get burnt. Use good quality ghee. I always use homemade ghee.
    • The colour of pongal differs with the colour of jaggery.‘Paagu vellam’ works best. It is slightly darker in shade. (Urundai vellam)
    • Jaggery can be added more if needed. We usually like it super sweet, so adjust according to your taste preference.
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    Sakkarai pongal for pot method Ingredients

    • Raw rice - 1 cup
    • Moong dal - 2 to 4 tbsp
    • Jaggery - 1 to 1 & ½ cup
    • Ghee - ¼ cup (can adjust as per preference)
    • Cardamom - 1
    • Water for cooking rice - 6 cups
    • Milk - 2 tbsp
    • Water for jaggery syrup - ½ cup
    • Edible camphor - mustard seed size
    • Clove - 1
    • Nutmeg powder- a pinch
    • Salt - a pinch (optional)
    • Cashews, raisins - 1 tablespoon each

    Stepwise photos

    1. Take pressure cooker/ pan firstly, add ¼ teaspoon ghee and roast the moong dal.

    secret ingredients for sakkarai pongal
    Ingredients for a temple style sweet pongal

    2. Add water, washed rice as well as a pinch salt. Then, pressure cook for 4 whistles. Mash it once done.

    pressure cook

    3. Meanwhile, powder jaggery, heat it with water just to immerse it and bring to boil. Let the jaggery completely dissolve.

    Then filter it and add to the mashed rice in the cooker.

    jaggery syrup

    4. In a separate pan, heat a teaspoon of ghee and roast cashews to golden. After that add raisins to it. Once it fluffs up, transfer it and keep aside.

    In the same pan, add cloves, cardamom and switch off the stove. Add nutmeg powder, give a quick stir.

    Take out cardamom and powder it, add the powdered cardamom, edible camphor, cloves along with nutmeg powder to the pongal.

    add flavors

    You can skip roasting cardamom and crush it raw as well and add to pongal. I do this just to ensure it gets powdered well.

    At times, the cardamom rice is not black and wont get powdered at all. While eating it comes in mouth which some people find it annoying. It also gives less flavor.

    5. Mix well and cook in medium flame for 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup water or milk if it gets dry while cooking. Drizzle ghee little by little while cooking. Lastly add the fried cashews and raisins.

    To know your pongal is done perfectly, it will have a shine from the jaggery coating the rice. So keep cooking until then.

    sakkarai pongal sweet pongal

    Divine smelling + tasting pongal is what you have now! The whole house smell divinely😊

    sweet pongal | Sakkarai pongal
    Sakkarai pongal, smells just like temple prasadam

    Other Pongal Festival Recipes

    • Coconut milk sweet pongal, Instant pot recipe
    • Aval sakkarai pongal recipe | Easy pongal recipes
    • Dates poli recipe, Sweet poli recipes
    • Wheat rava sweet pongal recipe | Godhuma rava sweet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kaveri Venkatesh

      October 17, 2012 at 6:19 am

      Loved the cute vessel...beautiful pics and delicious pongal

      Reply
    2. APARNARAJESHKUMAR

      October 17, 2012 at 6:30 am

      itis rice know typo error in the first line ! btw mouth watering

      Reply
    3. Hema

      October 17, 2012 at 6:50 am

      Lovely clicks, deliciously done..

      Reply
    4. Vimitha Anand

      October 17, 2012 at 7:02 am

      I love this to the core... Comfort food

      Reply
    5. Veena Theagarajan

      October 17, 2012 at 7:05 am

      so yummy this is my kids favourite
      Great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

      Reply
    6. WeR SAHM

      October 17, 2012 at 7:33 am

      delicious prasadham preparation... as you said Raji really this will give divine taste and flavor...nice post

      Ezcookbook

      Reply
    7. Joselin R

      October 17, 2012 at 8:01 am

      Wow... beautiful pics... Always did simply pongal...Never added the spices as you have said... surely will try this rich flavourful method today...

      Reply
    8. Akila

      October 17, 2012 at 8:14 am

      Can feel the flavor.. It's makes me hungry here

      Reply
    9. Prathima Rao

      October 17, 2012 at 8:36 am

      Looks rich & delicious 🙂
      Prathima Rao
      Prats Corner

      Reply
    10. Sowmya

      October 17, 2012 at 8:51 am

      sweet pongal looks so rich dear! ..I'll try your version soon 🙂

      Reply
    11. suhaina aji

      October 17, 2012 at 8:59 am

      As a kid this is the only payasam that I used to make. Reminds me of those wonderful childhood days. My grandfather used to like it.
      Too good and love the clicks.

      Reply
    12. Hari Chandana P

      October 17, 2012 at 11:02 am

      Wowww... looks super delicious and tempting.. love the presentation too.. You rock dear 🙂
      Indian Cuisine

      Reply
    13. anusha praveen

      October 17, 2012 at 11:10 am

      i guess this is like the kovil prasadam raji looks deliciously divine

      Reply
    14. Priti S

      October 17, 2012 at 11:42 am

      As you said its look so divine and yum ...I really wish I can have it ...fab pics

      Reply
    15. sowmya(creative saga)

      October 17, 2012 at 12:21 pm

      Am loving the cashews and raisins...looks so delicious..

      Reply
    16. Shama Nagarajan

      October 17, 2012 at 12:21 pm

      inviting dear..join me in fast food event - vermicilli .

      Reply
    17. Priya

      October 17, 2012 at 12:51 pm

      Such a droolworthy and super tempting sweet pongal, love it.

      Reply
    18. Cilantro

      October 17, 2012 at 1:14 pm

      My Fav too. Drooling here looking at the ghee soaked Pongal.

      Reply
    19. Kavitha Bhargav

      October 17, 2012 at 1:49 pm

      Ghee dripping pongal... wow. Hey wait are we through with diwali. Just had a doubt since i received pongal recipe 🙂 and then I understood that we can have pongal for diwali but we cannot have diwali for pongal (for those who can understand). he... hee...

      Reply
    20. Sharmilee! :)

      October 17, 2012 at 2:25 pm

      Rich and delicious...perfect color and texture...yummy looking pongal

      Reply
    21. Shreem

      October 17, 2012 at 4:43 pm

      Looks divine..I remember the Pongal festival..

      Reply
    22. Lubna Karim

      October 17, 2012 at 5:21 pm

      Rich, creamy and yummy.....lovely recipe...

      Reply
    23. Janani

      October 17, 2012 at 5:22 pm

      Raks the pic looks so colourful lovely sooooooooo good and tempting.

      Reply
    24. VineelaSiva

      October 17, 2012 at 6:12 pm

      OMG pongal looks very yummy.Its really makes me drooling Radhika.

      Reply
    25. ANU

      October 17, 2012 at 7:29 pm

      yum yum...luv this recipe and the cute bowl...and the clicks 🙂
      B-O-O-O-O Halloween Event Oct 5th to Nov 5th
      SYF&HWS - Cook with Spices

      South Indian Cooking (SIC) Series

      Reply
    26. Vijitha

      October 17, 2012 at 8:28 pm

      A delicious traditional dish. I have made it with quinoa and brown rice too. Yours looks so delicious with all the goodness in it.

      Reply
    27. Sanoli Ghosh

      October 17, 2012 at 11:02 pm

      Very rich pongal, looks divine.

      Reply
    28. Divya Kudua

      October 18, 2012 at 5:16 am

      Making the sakkara pongal in the pressure cooker is a great time-saver.Perfect for Navrathri:)

      Reply
    29. Prathibha

      October 18, 2012 at 6:41 am

      Nice looking pongal..love d snaps too

      Reply
    30. jeyashrisuresh

      October 18, 2012 at 7:31 am

      totally tempting sakkarai pongal. I can imagine the divine taste of the pongal with nutmeg and edible camphor. Wonderful presentation

      Reply
    31. nasi

      October 18, 2012 at 8:22 am

      hello raks
      can u pls tel me how do u slice the nuts especially the one u did in ur carrot halwa post?

      Reply
    32. RAKS KITCHEN

      October 18, 2012 at 10:15 am

      Nasi, I do with my super sharp knife 🙂

      Reply
    33. Vandana Rajesh

      October 19, 2012 at 5:53 am

      The pongal looks super delicious, how I wish I could now have a bowl of it.

      Reply
    34. Jay

      October 19, 2012 at 1:23 pm

      wow...absolutely inviting..
      Tasty Appetite

      Reply
    35. revathi

      October 19, 2012 at 3:19 pm

      Pongal looks absolutely fabulous..:)
      Reva

      Reply
    36. Nandita Pai Shirali

      October 20, 2012 at 4:30 am

      Hello Raks... u may have got tonnes of awards for this lovely blog of urs 🙂 I recently got one for my blog and I wished to share it with u, as I have picked up some lovely recipes from ur space here... so my way of saying thanks 🙂 Do chk my blog 🙂

      Reply
    37. Anonymous

      October 23, 2012 at 6:04 pm

      5 stars
      Nice photos and detailed recipe.I tried this today and enjoying the house filled with its aroma. I normally use milk and it gets very messy. Oh...I love this! My Sakkari Pongal was never this good!

      Reply
    38. Abirami Ganesh

      December 25, 2012 at 2:35 am

      Wow, awesome.. btw, mouth watering. beautiful...

      Reply
    39. Abirami Ganesh

      December 25, 2012 at 2:36 am

      wow.. mouth watering, btw awesome....

      Reply
    40. Unknown

      January 14, 2013 at 5:11 am

      Wow! Thanks - just needed by me.
      Planning to make one big quantity of pongal and make half portion for sarkarai pongal and another half for ven pongal

      Reply
    41. NewYorkMaami

      January 15, 2013 at 8:43 am

      The presentation is just amazing. Cant wait to go home and try it out today :)Btw, I am also using the ven pongal recipe

      Reply
    42. Pramila Singh

      January 15, 2013 at 8:43 am

      thanks raks. the pongal was very taste

      Reply
    43. Pramila Singh

      January 15, 2013 at 8:44 am

      thanks raks. the pongal was very taste.

      Reply
    44. M D

      January 17, 2013 at 4:17 am

      Totally agree on Use good quality ghee. I always use homemade ghee. That's so true. Your pongal looks divine!

      Reply
    45. supriya p

      April 14, 2013 at 2:28 pm

      Made this for Hindu new year right now ...awesome recipe keep up the good work..Im srilankan but really love southindian recipes and try them out often 🙂

      Reply
    46. Meeeeee

      June 23, 2013 at 10:04 am

      Perfect recipe.. Turned out soooo yuuummmmyyy 🙂

      Reply
    47. prethika skm

      July 19, 2013 at 1:07 pm

      The ghee floating on the top makes the pongal, look even more delicious...Awesome click

      Reply
    48. Subhashini Subburaj

      July 20, 2013 at 12:36 am

      Hi Raks, I made this today(Aadi Friday). It came out so good and it is divine. Everyone liked it. Tastes exactly like temple pongal. Thanks 🙂
      P.S.: Came to know that today is Aadi Friday from your FB post. Thanx 🙂

      Reply
    49. Raks anand

      July 20, 2013 at 12:37 am

      Thank you for your prompt feedback 🙂

      Reply
    50. Sudha Chandrasekar

      September 01, 2013 at 11:04 am

      Looks delicious Raji..Will try this soon...From ur post i remembered the time when we used to go to temple(same kottai mariamman temple.. my native is salem) and keep this pongal during festival days(adi festival) with mom.

      Reply
    51. Anuradha

      September 10, 2013 at 11:26 am

      Hi Raks..made this yesterday, as usual another perfect and delicious recipe..!thanks a lot..

      Reply
    52. Anonymous

      January 10, 2014 at 11:28 am

      Will try on 14th 🙂

      Reply
    53. Karpagam Srinivasan

      January 14, 2014 at 4:46 am

      Same here, will try it on 14th, tomorrow:) Happy pongal to you all!!!

      Reply
    54. Pravina Parikh

      January 14, 2014 at 11:38 pm

      Thank you for posting yummy pongal recipe nice picture

      Reply
    55. Sathya Priya

      January 14, 2014 at 11:38 pm

      Happy pongal raks

      Reply
    56. geetu lilian peter

      March 26, 2014 at 3:56 am

      very nice the way you describe the food recipes...:-)

      Reply
    57. Safina Mubarak

      June 17, 2014 at 6:52 am

      Hi raks, pls tell me wats elachi ,nutmeg powder and camphor u ve used is specially madeones for cooking isit???

      Reply
    58. Raks anand

      June 17, 2014 at 7:08 am

      elachi is cardamom and the other two are also for flavor. its available in stores.

      Reply
    59. Anonymous

      January 13, 2015 at 10:24 am

      Simply delicious!!!!!!

      Reply
    60. Ramalingam B

      January 13, 2015 at 10:28 am

      Hi.Raje,It brings back the sweet memories as you have said,with in no time sakkarai pongal would vanish in the dovotees thronging the temple .But the satisfaction remains always.

      Reply
    61. mouseandtheox

      January 12, 2016 at 3:07 am

      If I want to use milk n water to cook the pongal how do I adjust the proportions? Or is this a strictly water recipe

      Reply
    62. Raks anand

      January 12, 2016 at 3:10 am

      You can use half and half milk and water. That is replace half water with milk.

      Reply
    63. Unknown

      January 16, 2016 at 8:59 am

      5 stars
      Tried this and cem out so well 🙂 And it was my first time !! Thank you

      Reply
    64. esh

      January 16, 2016 at 9:00 am

      5 stars
      Thank you for this recipe. I have tried it three times and each version was as good as the previous one. Only problem is I didn't use nutmeg and camphor as I couldn't find it anywhere in Tekka. Can I know where you purchased these two items?

      Reply
    65. Unknown

      January 16, 2016 at 8:59 am

      Tried this and cem out so well 🙂 And it was my first time !! Thank you

      Reply
    66. Saahshi

      January 16, 2016 at 8:59 am

      Very easy steps and preparations Raksitchen.

      Reply
    67. Sara's World

      January 16, 2016 at 9:00 am

      Felt nice to see the words "Kottai Mariyamman Kovil" 🙂 Will try this recipe tomorrow. Thanks!

      Reply
    68. Raks anand

      January 16, 2016 at 9:09 am

      Both available in Mustafa, near the place they keep red chillies, perungayam and those things

      Reply
    69. esh

      January 27, 2016 at 12:54 am

      Thanks! Will buy them and try it with all ingredients next time.

      Reply
    70. SaiSyamala Parvatam

      August 26, 2016 at 3:34 am

      Hi raks
      The Pongal looks delicious! I want to make this tomorrow. Did you add milk to it or just water?

      Reply
    71. Raks anand

      August 26, 2016 at 3:37 am

      If you want to make with milk, reduce water and add milk half the amount of water.

      Reply
    72. Unknown

      April 20, 2017 at 1:28 am

      5 stars
      Thank you Raks, I tried this yesterday, so delicious.. everybody loved it.. Thanks for amazing recipe.

      Reply
    73. Abinaya

      January 21, 2018 at 10:54 am

      5 stars
      Tried and turned yummy!! Tasted like the ones in temple... Made my festival a big hit!!!

      Reply
    74. Lizy

      March 20, 2018 at 4:23 pm

      5 stars
      Tried it for the first time and it came out very well.

      Reply
    75. anuradha sivakumar

      April 18, 2018 at 6:29 am

      5 stars
      Tried it today, it was yummy. My mom was totally surprised at the taste...as I had done without asking her....

      Reply
    76. Raks Kitchen

      April 18, 2018 at 6:42 am

      Oh, thats awesome 🙂 Thank you for your time to give feedback

      Reply

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

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