Pongal (lit. 'to boil over') is a South Indian and Sri Lankan dish of rice cooked in boiling milk.[1][2] Its preparation is the main custom associated with the Pongal festival. It is also eaten as a breakfast food.[3] A part of Tamil cuisine, varieties include venn (hot) pongal, sakkarai (sweet) pongal, kozhi (chicken) pongal, and sanyasi pongal. It has been described as "very dear to (the) Tamil people."[2]
Significance
Pongal on Indian postage stamp
Pongal is associated with the Pongal festival, whose name means "to boil over" or "overflow." The festival thanks the Sun deity for the sunlight that makes the rice harvest possible. Therefore, the tradition calls for offering the fresh harvest of rice cooked in boiling milk to the deity.[1] While the pongal is cooking, onlookers sometimes shout with joy, "Pongalo pongal!" ('Let the pongal rise up!').[2]
Sakkarai (sweet) pongal is made with jaggery, cardamom, cashews, and sometimes ghee, golden raisins, nutmeg, and salt. It is served after being offered to the deity.[2][4]
