Chakkera Pongal (Rice Lentil Pudding)

Chakkera Pongal is said to be the most favorite naivedyam/prasad of Goddess Durga. Ofcourse, this is my hubby's favorite too Chakkera means sugar in telugu, which means this is a sugar based pudding. Jaggery can be substituted for sugar in this recipe.This pudding is gooey in texture which is the signature of this dish.

                    

Lets see my version of chakkera pongal.

Ingredients
2/3 cup rice
1/3 cup split green gram skinless / moong dal
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coconut
Cashew nuts, broken
Raisins
2 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)
A small pinch of edible camphor (paccha karpooram)
1/8 tsp cardamom powder
4 cups water

Method

• In a pressure pan, slightly dry roast lentils. Add rice to it and wash thoroughly.
• In a small pan add 1 tbsp ghee and fry chopped fresh coconut until light golden and add to the rice mixture.
• In the same pan, fry cashew nuts, raisins and set aside.
• Add 3 cups of water to the pressure pan and cook for 3 whistles or until well cooked (keep it little mushy)
• In a separate pan, add sugar, 1/2 cup water and cook until one string syrup.
• Add the sugar syrup to the cooked rice lentil mixture and combine well.
• Add fried dry fruits and check the consistency of the pudding (if required add little more water to it).
• Now add cardamom powder, edible camphor, the remaining 1 tbsp ghee and combine it well and switch of the flame.
• Serve it hot or warm.

Note: Be very careful while adding edible camphor. This is the key ingredient of this dish. Just a pinch of this gives tons of flavor and even a little more than that may spoil the dish. So, ensure you be really cautious and conscious while adding this camphor.