BOIL PONGAL, BOIL*

*Literal translation of "Pongalo, Pongal"; a phrase Sarujen's mother, Shanthini, typically says while making Pongal as per traditions.

Written by: Sarujen Sivakumar

The magic of Eat Offbeat is rooted in our collective celebration of the diverse cultures and characters that flavor our food. In this spirit, at the outset of each new year we mark our calendars with festivals that are dear to members of our team. 

Up first is Pongal: A four day harvest festival celebrated in Sri Lanka and South India each year between January 15th to 18th. The term ‘pongal’ in Tamil means “to boil”, and this festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving ceremony for the year’s harvest. We celebrate Pongal to worship the sun, to bring in the New Year, and to mark the harvest of crops like rice, sugarcane, turmeric and so many moret. During Pongal, it is tradition for everyone in the neighborhood to boil their rice in an earthen pot in front of their house. Neighbors dress in their traditional clothes and synchronize their cooking from their respective family pots. Pongal is also the name of the sweetened rice pudding boiled with lentils that emerges from the pots. As a child, my mom would feed me pongal, calling it “sweet rice” because as a kid I often resisted eating something unfamiliar. 

Unlike my parents, I was not born in Sri Lanka and never had the chance to experience these important cultural touchstones first-hand. But my mom, Chef Shanti, passed along our traditions as I grew up, through stories and of course through food... In place of Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast, I instead heard stories of my culture and festivals like Pongal. 

I remember asking my mom, “why does it take four days to boil rice?” she would laugh and tell me that each day represents something else:

^{Pongal made by Chef Shanthini}

Day 1 of Pongal: The Bhogi Festival

Bhogi is celebrated as the first day of the harvest festival of Pongal. It is the day of discarding everything that is old and thus bringing in new fortune and prosperity in their lives. 

Day 2 of Pongal: Thai Pongal

This is the day where the rice and milk are boiled together in an earthen pot - to which a turmeric plant is tied - out in the open as an offering to the sun god. Kolam is another key aspect of the second day, , as traditional designs are hand-drawn at the entrance of houses with lime powder. The drawings must be done early in the morning and only after a bath. 

Day 3 of Pongal: Mattu Pongal

Mattu Pongal is the day celebrated in the name of cows. In the religion of Hinduism it is said that Lord Shiva once sent his bull to earth with a message for the mortals, asking them to have an oil massage and bath daily, and to eat once a month. The bull however mistakenly announced that Shiva had asked people to eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. Angry Shiva banished the bull to the earth forever, cursing him to help people produce more food for all eternity.

Day 4 of Pongal: Kaanum Pongal 

This marks the last day of Pongal. On this day, the leftover sweet Pongal and other food are set out in the courtyard on a washed turmeric leaf. Women of the household carry out this ritual in the name of their brothers and sisters, asking for their prosperity.