Happy Pongal - A Short History (from my mailbox message extract)

Pongal 2010 is on January 14, Thursday 

Harvest festival of Pongal falls falls in the month of January after the winter solstice. The date of the festival is derived from Solar Calendar hence it usually remains same. For Hindus the date of Pongal is extremely auspicious and astronomically significant. Around January 14, every year sun begins its six-months-long journey northwards or in Uttarayan  and moves into the zodiac Capricorn or Makaram Rashi.  
This celestial event is celebrated as Pongal in South India.

Pongal Festival marks the end of cold winter months and the advent of spring. From this time the length of days gradually increases in the Northern Hemisphere. Celebration of Pongal lasts for four days from the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi (December-January) to the third day of Thai that is the month of January - February according to Western Calendar. It is the second and the main day of the festival that is celebrated as Pongal every year.

Pongal is celebrated when the fields are blooming. The festival is thus a celebration of prosperity and good harvest especially for the farming community. During the Pongal celebrations farmers express their gratitude to Sun God and the cattle and thank them for a good harvest.

The festival of Pongal is celebrated as  Makar Sankranti  in central India and Bhugali Bihu in Assam while people in West Bengal, celebrate the last day of Bengali month Paush on January 14. Here, thousands of devotees take bath in Gangasagar, the point where the holy river Ganga meets the sea, to wash away all the earthly sins.

On the day of Pongal, sweet rice known as 'Pongal' is cooked in a new earthenware pot which is placed where the puja is to be performed. Fresh turmeric and ginger are tied around this pot. Then a delicious concoction of rice, moong dal, jaggery and milk is boiled in the pot on an open fire. According to the ritual, this Pongal rice is allowed to boil and spill over. Once the rice is cooked, it is tempered with cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee. When the Pongal dish is ready, it is offered to the sun god on a new banana leaf along with other traditional delicacies, like vadas, payasam, etc. Some people go to their plots of land to spray some of the Pongal water on their fields.

Make Pongal and Enjoy the festival

Ingredients 

» 1 cup Rice

» 1/4 cup Moong dal

» /2- 1 tsp jeera

» 1/2-1 tsp peppercorns

» 1/2 tsp pepper powdered fresh

» A few Cashewnuts broken

» 1/2 cup dessicated Coconut

» A pinch of Turmeric powder

» Ghee

Method 

1. Fry the Moongdal a little till you get a light flavour.

2. Mix the dal with the rice, add 2 -3 cups of water (the rice should cook very very soft)

3. Add turmeric powder, coconut, a few peppercorns and a 1-2 tsp of ghee to the rice and pressure cook till done.

4. When done, take a kadai add sufficient of Ghee to it, more the ghee better it tastes, add jeera, pepper corns and cashewnuts.

5. Add the cooked rice mixture, add pepper powder, salt and mix well with the ghee and jeera/cashewnuts.

The pongal is ready!!! you can add some more ghee at the end if you need. It is best eaten fresh and Hot!!, You can serve it with Coconut Chutney, or Onion/Tomato Raita. WISH U AND UR FAMALY A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS PONGAL.