Pongala payasam

Ingredients for Ponkala Payasam:

1. Payasam rice – 500 grams
2. Jaggery – 500 grams
3. Bay leaves (Vayana ila) – 4 or 5
4. Scrapped coconut – 1
5. Raisins – A handful
6. Cashew nuts – A handful
7. Banana sliced into thin chips (Rasa kadali, matti or palayanthodan) – 4
8. Ghee – 1 or 2 table spoon
9. Crushed cardamom – 6 or 7 

Method of preparation of Ponkala Payasam:

1. Wash the rice well and keep it aside.
2. Light the hearth using firewood.
3. Heat water in an earthen pot. Tilt it towards east. Water should never be excess. Otherwise your payasam will be too thin.
4. When it boils add washed rice and never stir it so that it can overflow.
5. When it overflows stir it well and allow it to cook for half an hour or till it’s done.
6. Crush jaggery to pieces and add to rice once rice is well cooked and water completely absorbed.
7. When jaggery melts completely and water almost absorbed add ghee, bay leaves and cardamom.
8. Stir it well and add coconut, banana, raisins and cashew nuts.
9. Stir it well. Put the flame off and cover it with a banana leaf. Place it in the hearth itself so that it gets a baking effect.

You can also read about the famous Attukal Ponkala here.