Millet sweet Pongal (Chakkari Pongal)

Millet Sweet Pongal - traditional South Indian style sweet Pongal recipe that is made healthy by using millets and jaggery. Have this vegan and the gluten-free dish as a dessert or as a breakfast.

Sweet Pongal, we usually call as chakkara pongali in Telugu (chakkara means sugar), is prepared on auspicious days as the offerings to the GOD.

I made little changes to the traditional recipe to make it healthy but will taste equally good as the original recipe.

Pongal will have mashed consistency and, replacing rice with millet will not change the texture of the dish and can be comfortably accepted by everyone at home.

Sweet Pongal recipe with step by step pictures

Cooking millet dal mixture in an Instant pot

• Add washed millet, washed moong dal to the Instant Pot inner pot

• Now add water to it, and close the lid.

• Seal the vent of Instant Pot and select manual mode. Cook for 8 minutes on high pressure.
• It will take around 10 to 12 minutes for pressure to build up. Once the Instant pot stops, wait for 10 minutes and do a manual pressure release. Mix it well.

• Whenever I cook millet and lentil mixture, along with this sweet Pongal, I also make ven Pongal.
• If you are doing both the recipes, take some portion of millet mixture into a cooking vessel or pan, add jaggery powder and water. Otherwise, add jaggery and water to the millet mixture and turn on saute mode in Instant Pot.

• Cook this millet jaggery mixture for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Once it is cooked well and the mixture becomes a little thick, turn off the Instant Pot. If cooking on the stovetop, cook for 7 to 8 minutes and switch off the flame.
• Now add cardamom powder or grated Nutmeg and mix it well.

• Garnish the millet sweet Pongal with cashews and raisins.

Cooking millet lentil mixture in a pressure cooker or electric rice cooker

• Add washed millet, washed mung dal to the pressure cooker, or electric rice cooker inner pot.
• Now add water and pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles. Once pressure is released naturally, add salt, mix the cooked millet dal and add water to adjust the consistency.
• Add jaggery and water to the millet mixture and cook it on low flame for 7 to 8 minutes.
• Once it is cooked well and the mixture becomes a little thick, turn off the flame.
• Now add cardamom powder or grated Nutmeg and mix it well.
• Garnish the millet sweet Pongal with cashews and raisins.

Recipe notes

• I have used jaggery in this sweet Pongal recipe, and other good sweeteners to use for this recipe are coconut sugar, unrefined sugar, palm sugar.
• You can use any small millet to make this Pongal like foxtail millet, little millet, Kodo millet, proso millet.
• If you like the taste of quinoa, you can even use quinoa and millet in a 1:1 ratio or make this recipe only with quinoa.
• I used ¼ cup millet and ¼ cup moong dal in this recipe and it will yeild 1.5 cups of cooked millet mixture. You can double or triple the quantities if you also make Ven Pongal.

Have you tried this recipe? Provide your feedback by giving a star rating and/or leaving comments. And don't forget to share the recipe with others on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Millet Sweet Pongal recipe

PIN the recipe for later use

As you are here, you might be interested in these millet recipes.