Foxtail Millet Sweet Pongal Thinai Sakkarai Pongal

Foxtail Millet Sweet Pongal / Thinai Sakkarai Pongal (In Tamil) is an yummy delight made using millet , jaggery / jaggery powder, fried coconut, cashew nuts raisins and flavored with Cardamom powder. I didn’t add any rice to make this Pongal also this is milk free and dal/lentil free sweet pongal (most of my recipes vary

by different pot / ingredients and procedure). Do check my Pongal recipe collections below and you can use different method for this recipe as well.

• Pongal in Stove with Palm Jaggery using stainless steel pot
• Clay Pot Pongal in stove with Jaggery
• Brown Rice Jaggery Sweet Pongal in Pressure Cooker
• Use Sugarcane Juice Instead of Water and reduce Jaggery

Savory Pongal

• Thinai Venn Pongal/ Foxtail Millet Savory Pongal (Video Soon)
• Proso Millet Savory Pongal/Pani Varagu Savory Pongal
• Brown Rice Oats Khara (Savory) Pongal
• Pongal Gravy / Mochai Kottai Puli Kuzhambu
• Pachai Mochai Kottai Poriyal
• Pachai Mochai Pidukku Kuzhambu

What is Pot in Pot (PIP)

Either you can use manual Pressure cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe. I have explained both and at the same time you can cook directly or cook in a pot inside the in instant pot Inner pot and sane with manual Pressure cooker.

Video Demo Explanation

I have made both sweet and savory Pongal in one pot, one shot. The video at the end of the post clearly explains the procedure I did

• Soaked millets seperately for both dishes.
• Added ghee, First sauteed Fruit, nuts for sweet Pongal, kept aside.
• Later added few drops of ghee, sauteed ingredients for savory Pongal
• Sauteed dal , added soaked millets and necessary water to cook.
• Can use trivet and it’s optional, Now I placed the millet soaked for sweet Pongal with necessary water over it and covered it properly(otherwise savory stuff get into it).
• Pressure cooked and once done, mashed the plain cooked millet, added sugar syrup, fried nuts, Cardamom powder etc
• By the way savory Foxtail Millet Pongal is also ready , mashed and served hot.

How to make Vegan?

Do fry nuts in oil or plant based butter/ vegan butter and make it vegan, also skip dairy milk.

How to use Jaggery?

You can use any sweetener for this recipe. Make sure you filter the impurities in unrefined and organic sugar varieties. For that

• In the separate pan add jaggery or jaggery powder (Pic 1) with 1/4 cup water to dissolve (Pic 2).

• Once the sugar dissolved well (Pic 3) and comes to single boil (you no need to check string consistency), filter the impurities (Pic 4) and keep aside.

Millet Sweet Pongal Variations

1. The jaggery powder I used had medium sugar level.
2. If using palm jaggery or regular sugar you may need 1/4 cup less than the quantity mentioned. Always do keep an eye and add in batches.
3. Can add milk to cooked Pongal at last to bring to Pongal consistency.
4. Adding dal is optional, I usually prefer sweet Pongal without dal ☺️.
5. The coconut pieces are must, yeah it tastes great and you can relish each and every bite of Pongal with it.
6. The ghee mentioned here in the recipe card can be increased to another 1-2 Tbsp.

Millet Sweet Pongal Ingredients

Foxtail Millet – 3/4 Cup ( replace with barnyard, kodo, proso, samai millet)
Jaggery Powder/Coconut Sugar/Jaggery – 1 Cup
Coconut Slices – 2 Tbsp
Cashew Nuts – 2 Tbsp
Raisins – 1 Tbsp
Ghee – 3 Tbsp / Oil/ Vegan Butter – To fry nuts
Cardamom Powder – 1.5tsp
Edible Camphor – A Pinch (Opt)
Moong Dal – 4 Tbsp (Opt)
Milk – 1/4 Cup (Opt)

How to clean and soak Millets?

• Rinse and soak millet (Pic 1 & 2) for at least 30 minutes ahead of preparation.
• You can check whether millets has stones or not before cooking by this way.
• Initially I soak millets for 15 minutes , then discard soaked water, Rinse thrice and then soak again with fresh water (Pic 2, mine is inorganic).
• If using moong dal same soak 10 mins, rinse until water is clear and keep it ready, no need to soak it.

Millet Sweet Pongal In Instant Pot

• Set Instant pot to medium sauté mode.
• Add ghee or oil to the instant pot inner pot.
• Add coconut pieces and fry , if it’s half done do add cashews and raisins to it.
• Sautee till all turns golden brown and raisins puff well (Pic 3).
• Remove from the pan and if using dal do fry for a minute.
• Cancel the saute mode, add soaked millets and for 1 cup (including dal if using) add 4 cups of water.
• If you soaked the millet for more than an hour do reduce water quantity.
• Add soaked dal, stir it, close the lid and make sure the lid is in sealing position to cook. in high pressure for 8 minutes.
• Either you can cook directly in the inner pot or use Pot In Pot method (Pic 4, explained PIP above).
• I chose PIP (Pic 4), and cook in high pressure for 8 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally or depressurize after 15 minutes.
• Open the lid by pressing the valve in vent mode/ by releasing pressure if any.
• Pictures 5 & 6 shows the perfectly cooked millet rice, Mash them well.
• Add filtered jaggery syrup (Pic 7) or powder (if you are confident that the jaggery is pure you can add directly).

• If the Pongal looks grainy do add few tbsps water or milk and cook again in Instant pot using same PIP method for just 2 more minutes in high pressure.
• Or simmer over stove for few mins with necessary water.
• Once its cooked well, add fried nuts (Pic 8), coconut slices, Cardamom powder and edible champor.
• Mix all together (Pic 9) and serve Pongal hot ☺️ (Pic 10).

Millet Sweet Pongal In Manual Cooker

• Cook the soaked millets with 4 cups water in medium flame for 4 hisses/ whistles.
• Meanwhile in a sautéing pan add ghee/ oil fry coconut pieces.
• When it’s half done add cashews and raisins, let then fry till golden brown and remove from flame.
• Once millet is cooked in the pressure cooker, mash it immediately and add filtered syrup.
• If the Pongal consistency looks grainy add optional milk or few tbsps of water and simmer for couple of minutes.
• Add fried dry fruits, nuts, Cardamom powder and edible champor.
• Serve hot ☺️.

Millet Sweet Pongal Video Recipe

Recipe Card