A potpourri of flavours

Here’s the low-down on some Pongal delicacies

Divya Hasnani has been living in Chennai for the last 22 years, and if there’s one thing that has made her fall in love with the city, it is the festival of Pongal. “Every year, for the last 22 years now, we celebrate Pongal just like any other family in Chennai,” she says. “The first day of Pongal is to celebrate the spirit of new items and discard the old unwanted ones. So, on the first day, we burn wooden chairs or anything that is unwanted. On the second day, we make sweet pongal, which is offered to the sun god. The third day is all about worshipping cows, so we do that, and the final day is [about] meeting family and friends and celebrating the festival with them,” Divya adds.

While every household celebrating the festival has a unique way of making the festival’s signature dish — pongal — the basic ingredients are rice, jaggery and clarified butter (ghee). “One most important delicacy is rice made in raw sugar and desi ghee. This is served as prashad in temples. People decorate their cows, feed them prashad and worship them. Now, in hotels, you can find the rice and sugar dish spiced with elaichi, coconut, nuts or other flavours,” says chef Rakesh Sethi.

The theme of unity in diversity reverberates all throughout the four-day festival. Another homemaker, Anupama Narayna, follows her mother’s recipe of making Ellu Urundai (til ka laddoo) and Kootu curry ( mixed vegetable) — two dishes that are a staple in her house in Hyderabad. But Anupama insists there’s a big difference in taste. “The simple reason is the amount of ingredients we use to make our dishes. For instance, I tend to use lesser ghee than her when I am making laddoos. Also, I tend to add more green chillies than her when I am making the mixed vegetable curry,” she explains.