Annalena goes subcontinental, with Sakkarai Pongal

At the start, ragazzi, let Annalena say that she and "Indian" (we will come back to that in a minute) food do NOT have a good relationship, in the kitchen .  In restaurants, it is another matter, but in terms of cooking it, Annalena has NOT had great success.  Yes, she can make a curry - or  more correctly, she can use curry powder.  That does NOT make an "Indian" dish  .  Sicilians use curry powder too (you didn't know that did you?).  And she has made her share of chutneys, but overall, she leaves these dishes to the pros.

This year, for the annual New Year's bash that Annalena and the Guyman give, Annalena gave a try to t his rice pudding dish,  "sakkarai pongal."  AND IT WORKED!!!!   Annalena was so proud of this, she could barely stand herself.  In fact, she almost ate the whole pot of it before she brought it to the table.  And there was a LOT of it.   So, she's thrilled to add this to her recipe.

Now, to return to the use of "Indian" above.  This is a TAMIL dish, which does NOT make it Indian.  There are Tamils in India; however, larger populations live elsewhere, especially in Ceylon.  According to her research,  Annalena found that there are 77 MILLION people who call themselves "Tamil," and it is the largest ethnic group that does not have a nation of its own.

Did you know any of that?  See what you learn, on the way to a rice pudding?  Annalena expects you to share any prizes you win as a result of this information with her.  SHE will know.

You need one ingredient that you almost definitely do not have in your kitchen:  that is moong dal.  These look like very small yellow split peas - but you most certainly may NOT substitute the latter for the former.  Go on amazon and buy some.  And then use the rest to make dhals.

Let's get to work.  This is easy but you need to be attentive.  Put a quarter cup of those split peas into a bowl, cover them with cold water, and let them sit for half an hour, while you collect the other ingredients you will need:  a cup of long grain rice, like basmati or texmati, 3 cups of milk, a stick of cinnamon (go get some if you don't have it),  a half stick of butter (since you don't have ghee on hand),  about 3/4 cup or more of cashews (roasted and unsalted are best),  and a third of a cup of golden raisins (Annalena gives you permission to use dark ones if you don't have the golden ones).  You also need a hefty cup of light brown sugar.  (The source recipe calls for jaggery, which is available in Indian food stores, but you don't have it in your kitchen, and WE WANT DESSERT).  Finally,  2 teaspoons of ground cardamom.  Some of you LOVE cardamom.  This is a potent spice though, and you should proceed with care, especially if your spices are fresh (and if they aren't, why aren't they?).

Have all your ingredients?  GOOD.    Let's put the rice, the drained moong dal and 4.5 cups of water in a big pot.  Bring it to a boil, lower the heat, and cook for about 12 minutes.  The rice is going to get very, VERY soft.  Now, add the milk, the cinnamon, and cook, at low heat, stirring every now and then to keep things moving.  The rice will stick if you don't.  That's good if you are making paella and you want a soccarat, but not so good for this.  Let this all cook for 20 minutes, and watch it turn into this beautiful, pale white "mush," that you KNOW is going to be good, because of the way it smells.

On an adjoining burner, melt the butter, and add the raisins and cashews, for 2-3 minutes.  Add this to the rice with the brown sugar, the cardamom, and cook for another 3 minutes or so.   And... we have  DESSERT.

In Annalena's experience, rice pudding fans are fanatics.   So they love getting a new recipe.  She hopes this is a new one for you.  Eat it at room temperature, or cold.  It's good both ways.  Eating it right out of the pot, however, is not recommended. You WILL hurt yourself.

In honor of her return, Annalena offers:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upR7GQ5ToCs