A week or so after the New Year is when there is a palpable shift in temperature. The cold of the Tamil month of Margazhi relents signifying the onset of Thaii maasam . This is when a big chunk of South India celebrates the harvest festival. It is a homage to the sun as it begins it’s journey in the northward direction . Rice is cooked outdoors on a wood fire with the pots placed facing the East, where the sun rises. The cooked grains are then flavoured with different kinds of natural sugar before being offered to the Gods.
The markets too wear a festive look. Tall, purple poles of sugarcane , the thin sprigs of white dotted poola poo , fresh turmeric bulbs and leaves , newly turned out terracotta pots and seasonal flowers are available at every corner and by-lane. It’s a time of the year that I look forward to with much happiness. Not only does it give me the chance to cook outdoors but it also reminds me to be immensely thankful for all that the earth has given us.
This year, the Pongal festival is more meaningful to me as I have had the opportunity to interact with farmers, organic experts and agriculturists; it has made me acutely aware of the need to preserve our farm lands. I understand better now the importance of rice conservation. The overflowing rice as one makes Pongal signifies a prayer for prosperity and plenty, especially for the farmers. Each household makes many varieties of Pongal. Our family favours the sakkarai pongal made with natural jaggery and the kalkandu saadham made with milk and white sugar candy. This year, I decided to have a pre-pongal experiment with other kinds of organic rice. In addition to the commonly used raw rice, my shopping list also has black sticky rice and red rice. Black sticky rice is very popular in Thailand. It’s served with coconut milk and slices of mango which is delicious.
Very similar to that is our own kavunarisi. It’s used extensively in Chettinad cuisine. Red rice is partially hulled rice.
These varieties have a delicious nutty flavour as well as texture. They are high in fibre, nutrients and are a much more complex carbohydrate than white rice. So those are facts to feel good about rather than guilty, when tucking into a bowl of delicious pongal!
The first step to making any pongal is to wash the grains of rice thoroughly, several times. Having decided to stick to cooking in mud pots, I was surprised at how quickly the red and black rice cooked. The mud pots do a fantastic job of retaining the heat long after the fires quiet down to just glowing embers. The black rice cooks to a gluey consistency, yet retains a bite. The colour goes from a solid black to a glossy purplish black. I decided to pair this with the karupatti, the rich black jaggery that is known for it’s colour and nutrients. The heat turns the jaggery into a molten dark, thick liquid which immediately envelopes the rice, resulting in a velvety, sticky dish of sweet rice. The rice is infused with an aromatic, so I chose to put scrapings of fresh vanilla bean seeds. A final garnish of toasted pecan and walnuts completed my experimental black rice pongal. The white rice pongal is a traditional recipe passed on from my grandmother’s home. Golden, creamy and laced with home made ghee, this one is hard to resist.
A generous quantity of milk and powdered sugar candy is added to the cooked rice. Then, fine strands of pure saffron that give it that appetizing hue.
The red rice pongal is garnished like the white kalkandu saadham with fried cashewnuts and raisins. To retain the earthy colour of the rice, a paler jaggery is used for sweetness.
This pre-pongal trial of using other un-polished rice varieties made me realize the wealth of dietary options available to us. The mud pots too are very easy to manage on the stove and add much joy to the whole process. The smaller ones are perfect for cooking as little as half a cup of rice and are great for serving from the hob to the table.
In recognising and choosing other rice grains ,we are not only gifting ourselves a more healthy lifestyle but we are also doing our part in preserving the many heirloom rice grains that will help sustain our lands and those that live off it. I am determined to include these high fibre rice grains in my culinary forays. I am eagerly awaiting Pongal morning, to cook them all over again!
