kalakkalsamayal: Buckwheat Sakkarai Pongal

Friday, January 3, 2014

Buckwheat Sakkarai Pongal

#BuckwheatSakkaraiPongal : #Buckwheat is called #Papparai ( #பாப்பரை ) in Tamil. It is called #Kuttu or #Fafar giri in Hindi. In North India people used to make roti or puri with buckwheat flour during their fasting days. To know more on buckwheat : Buckwheat
I cooked just the same way as rice in a pressure cooker and made sarkkarai pongal.

Ingredients :
1/2 Cup Buckwheat
A pinch Salt
1/3 Cup ( Adjust ) Jaggery
1/4 Tsp Cardamom powder
Small piece Nutmeg

To Garnish :
4 Cashew Nuts
8 Kismis ( Prune )
2 Tsp Ghee

Method :
Take buckwheat in a vessel that goes into a pressure cooker.
Wash once or twice and drain water completely.
Now add 1 cup of water.

Take 1 cup of water in a pressure cooker.
Keep the vessel containing buckwheat inside the cooker.
Close the lid and put on weight.

Cook on HIGH flame for 3 whistles and then reduce the flame to SIM.
Now cook at SIM for 5 minutes.

In the meantime take smashed jaggery in a vessel with little water.
Keep on fire to dissolve jaggery.
When jaggery is dissolved completely switch off the stove.

Strain through a filter to remove impurities and sand particles from jaggery.

Open the cooker when the steam have been completely subsided.
Transfer the cooked buckwheat in heavy bottomed vessel and add a pinch of salt.
Then keep it on slow flame and mash it with a ladle.

Now add strained jaggery water.
Keep stirring continuously till jaggery and buckwheat blend together well.
Cook like this for 5 to 7 minutes.
Finally add ghee, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.

Mix well and turn off the stove.

Microwave for 2 minutes cashew nuts with a drop of ghee

and then kismis in the same bowl for 30 seconds

Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with roasted cashew nuts and kismis.
Now tasty tasty buckwheat #sakkaraipongal is ready.

Enjoy with a hotty hot & spicy pakoda or masaal vadai or vadai.