5 Dal-Based Makar Sankranti Sweet And Savoury South Indian Grubs

The traditional south Indian sweet, Poornam boorelu or Poornalu, is prepared during festivities like Makar Sankranti. It has rice flour and urad dal coating and is stuffed with jaggery, Bengal gram pulp, and dry fruits. It is popular in Andhra cuisine and is known as Poornam boorelu. But the southern states stick to a largely consistent old recipe.

Pongal, often called pongali or huggi, is a rice and lentil dish from south India prepared during Makar Sankranti. The two types of pongal are Venn pongal, savoury and cooked with clarified butter, and chakarai pongal, the sweet counterpart. It calls for split and skinned green gram, also known as moong dal, rice, black pepper, green chillies, ginger and a few other spices. 

Rice and mung lentils are used to make a sweet porridge-like dish that is scented with cardamom and dry fruits. In Tamil Nadu, sweet Pongal, often referred to as sakkarai Pongal, is cooked for special events like Sankranti. Thanks to the inclusion of the beneficial ingredients mung dal, jaggery, and ghee, this meal is sweet yet nutritious.

Minapa vada or garelu in Telugu, uzhunnu vada in Kannada is an urad dal-based dish. It is a traditional crispy lentil dish from South India that is popular for breakfast and snacks. Consuming garelu with chicken curry during Makar Sankranti is a distinctive pairing. These savoury deep-fried dumplings occasionally contain spices, chopped vegetables and herbs.

In South India, Makar Sankranti is a day of thanksgiving for the production of rice, sugarcane, and a few other edible crops. Bobbatlu is a must-have during the festivities. It and Puran Poli are strikingly similar. In the Telugu variant of Bobbatlu, sweet little flatbreads made from refined flour are filled with a mixture of Bengal gram, jaggery, and cardamom powder. It is cooked with ghee and eaten warm or hot.