Pongal: Sticking to tradition

The traditional way of making pongal is slowly being replaced by quick and easy ready made mixtures which readily available these days.

Despite the readily available mixtures, many still prefer to stick to the traditional roots of celebrating Pongal.

For sales assistant, Baathri Narayanan, he prefers the traditional way of making pongal as opposed to using the ready-made ones.

“Ready-made ponggal tastes different.

“Usually those rushing for work will wait for the milk to boil and then just pour in the ready-made mixture into the pot.

“As we’re in this fast-paced world, ready-made mixtures can come in handy for those with work commitments and unable to spend a whole day for the celebration," said Baathri.

The traditional method of making pongal would require one to continuously monitor the softness of the rice and roast the other ingredients like cashew nuts and raisins prior to adding them into the pot made of of clay.

Baathri said, once the milk boils, by using the ready-made mixture it would take about 20 to 30 minutes while it will take up to an hour to prepare the ponggal using the typical way which requires constant monitoring.

He however said that he would still prefer to celebrate pongal with his family at home using the traditional way even if he has work to attend after that.

Pongal is celebrated to mark the end of harvest season in the month of Thai, according to the Tamil calendar.

'Pongalo pongal' and 'Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum' are chants which are synonymous during the pongal celebration.

'Pongalo pongal' is cheered when the milk boils and overflows out of the ‘ponggapanai’ (clay pot used to boil the milk) while 'Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum' means 'the commencement of Thai paves way for new solutions or opportunities'

As for first year undergraduate, Darshiini Vigneshwaran Pillai, she also enjoys celebrating it the traditional way.

She said, “Cooking in a pot with your whole family in front of the house is so much fun."

The Penangite still celebrates pongal in front of her house which is decorated with sugar cane sticks and other decorations.

When asked about the use of ready-made pongal, she said, “Honestly it isn’t as delicious as the pongal made by the traditional way.”

She also added, that making pongal using the ready-made mixture was not as fun compared to the pongal made conventionally.

For 52-year-old Vijaya Ayyapan, the ready-made pongal mixture has a different taste altogether compared to the traditional way of making them.

She is however not against the use of ready-made pongal mixture as it is similar to any other ready-made products and mixtures in the market.