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Thali

Next: 15 to 18 Jan 2027

Pongal

Tamil families boil new rice with milk and jaggery until the pot overflows, as thanks to the sun.

Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated over Tamil Nadu welcoming the Sun and owing to hard work of farmers and thanks giving to the helping Cattle.
Photo: Saral Shots, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Pongal

Pongal is the Tamil harvest festival, and its name means to boil over. On the main day new rice is cooked with milk and jaggery in a clay pot, outdoors and facing the sun. When the milk rises and spills, the family calls out that it has boiled over, a sign of plenty. The sweet rice is offered to the sun first and then eaten. A savoury version with pepper and ghee is served with it, along with vada, sambar and fresh sugarcane. The next day honours cattle.

The dishes

PongalNew rice boiled with milk and jaggery, or with pepper and ghee.SambarLentil and vegetable stew eaten with savoury pongal.KheerMilk pudding that ends the meal.Sugarcane juiceFresh cane is tied at the door and chewed through the festival.

Also part of it, and being written: Vada (Fried lentil rounds served with the festival meal.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Pongal (festival)" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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