Attukal Pongala Recipe

This is the recipe from my Amma for Attukal Pongala.
I know Attukal Pongala is a festival, but we (at my home) call the payasam made during the festival as Pongala - hence the title.
I tested this one!

Wash 2 cup pachari (raw rice) (sona masoori) (do not heap the cup)
Put to cook in 7 cup water + 1 tsp ghee
(idea is to over cook slightly, because rice will harden some when you add jaggery - overcook some)
While cooking keep stirring, add more ghee if needed
(idea is to make rice not stick to bottom of vessel) Adding more ghee will make the rice soft and tasty
While the rice is cooking prepare other things:
Melt sharkkara (jaggery). For two cup rice, melt 1 kg jaggery. As the amount needed depends on how sweet you want the pongala to be, I suggest to melt 1 kg, and add as much as needed, tasting the sweetness while adding
Filter the melted jaggery through a metal filter after it is slightly cool. (See more explanation in Note1 below)
There will be 2-3 cup melted jaggery after melting
Get ready with 1/3 tsp elakkaaya (cardamom) powder, chukku (dry ginger) powder and jeerakam powder
Also get ready with cashew and raisins fried in ghee. Fry seperately.
Get ready with 1 coconut - grated
Wait for rice to be cooked (remember - slightly over cook). Once rice is cooked, we are going to add the melted jaggery - while adding, there should be just a little bit water left in the cooking rice - you should not see any water at the bottom of the vessel, but there should be just a little bit fluidity. If the rice is too dry by the time it is cooked and ready for the jaggery, just add some more HOT water and bring it to the above mentioned fluidity. (Also see more explanation in Note2 below)
Add melted jaggery. Keep stirring well and mixing when you pour the jaggery. Add ghee to help stirring easy. Take another persons help if needed to stir while you pour. Add enough jaggery to meet the sweetness you desire.
Add all the other stuff with some ghee to help stirring.
Wait till the pongala becomes thick again. Remember it will thicken some before serving, so it is OK if it is not completely dry when you take it off the stove.
You need 3-5 tsp ghee totally for this recipe.
Looks healthy - jaggery is not all that bad, atleast it is better than sugar, and not too much ghee.Looks healthier than chakkara pongal - no milk! But no Moong dal though - meaning no protein.
Note1:Achan: Filter sharkkara immediately after it melts. Otherwise it would be tough to filter. Then put it back on stove and thicken some more. Thickened sharkkara gives more taste than more liquid sharkkara.Amma: This is needed only if you add more water while melting sharkkara
Note2:Achan: Add sharkkara to rice just before the rice is completely dry - a sign of this is when the rice boils with some sputtering. While the rice is still boiling, add some melted sharkkara. Now the boiling will stop. Let it boil again, then add more melted sharkkara and so on.