Happy Pongal 2023: Celebrate the auspicious Pongal with these delicious traditional organic recipes

In the states of South India, Pongal is celebrated as a harvest, prosperity, and joy festival. It is a celebration of traditions, the soil, Mother Nature, and farm animals. Pongal celebrations span 4-days and begin on 15th January. Here we bring you two of the most traditionally prepped dishes with recipe.

Happy Pongal: Food that is nourishing and full of goodness goes hand-in-hand with the excitement of enjoying the festival that unites everyone! These Pongal dishes are simple and yet delightful traditional food. The two meals that are absolutely necessary for this celebration are panchamrita and pongal, and using natural ingredients increases its worth.

These classic dishes have a healthy twist and are made with organic ingredients. They are delicious, simple to prepare, and wholesome in every way.

Mrs Shilpa Kumar is in house organic recipe curator at Akshayakalpa which is India's first certified organic milk brand.

Pongal

Ingredients:

- 100gms Little Millet (Sama)

- 100gms green gram dal

- 250 ml-Organic milk

- Organic honey 50gms+ 50gms powdered jaggery(optionally organic jaggery 100gms)

- Organic ghee-40gms

- Cashews, Almonds, raisins, Cardamom (Elaichi), pinch-turmeric powder

- Organic Copra few finely chopped pieces

Method:

- Dry roast millets and green gram dal, wash well and cook well in a cooker until 3-4 whistles on medium flame

- In a kadhai on low flame mix the cooked millets and dal and mix well with warm milk, keep stirring until no lumps or well mixed to pasty consistency

- Add jaggery powder and cook for a minute

- Roast the nuts and raisins, copra pieces in organic ghee until brown and add to the Pongal mixture along with powdered Cardamom and turmeric

- If honey is used add honey only in the end or while serving

- Serve hot or warm

Panchamrita

Ingredients:

- Organic ghee

- Organic honey

- Organic Milk

- Organic curd

- Organic bananas

Method:

- Chop bananas to a desired shaped

- To 200gms of bananas add 1 cup curd, 1 cup milk, 1 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp of honey

- Garnish with Tulsi/basil leaf