Pongal is the turkey equivalent of the Tamil harvest thanksgiving Festival of Sankranti. The festival occurs around mid-January, celebrating the winter harvest in India and also commemorates the journey of the northward journey of the sun, heralding the advent of spring. <br />Freshly harvested rice is cooked along with mung dal & milk in a pot decorated with turmeric leaves and allowed to boil over, signifying the abundance of prosperity for the year to come. <br />There are two versions. The traditional, sweet variety is cooked with milk and jaggery (unrefined sugar combined with the molasses) and spiced with cardamom & saffron. <br /> The savory version is spiced with a seasoning of cumin & cracked peppercorn. <br />The finishing touch is always a generous drizzle of melted, homemade ghee. The 'venn' in the dishes name comes from the tamil word for butter (vennai).

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