Heat the ghee in a small pan and fry the raisins till they puff up, then remove and keep aside. Now fry the cashewnuts till golden in colour. Remove from the ghee and keep aside.

To the remaining ghee, over low heat, add the lentils and fry till they give off an aroma and just start changing colour. Do not brown. Remove the lentils to a plate.

In a large pot or pressure cooker, cook the washed rice and the fried lentils with the 1 cup of milk and enough water till very well done but not mushy.

The rice I use usually needs about 2 1/2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice so here that would mean 1 cup of milk + 2 3/4 cups water. If you're using the rice used for payasam you would need more water per cup of rice. If you find, after the rice has cooked well, that there is a little extra water with the rice and it is a bit wet that's alright. You can cook it off later.

Take a large heavy bottomed pot/ saucepan and put the jaggery and about a 1/4 cup of water in it. Cook this over medium heat, stirring frequently, till the jaggery has dissolved and becomes a bit thick and syrup-like. Add the cooked rice-lentil mixture and stir well. Cook this over medium heat, stirring again to make sure it doesn't stick at the bottom, until it becomes thick and there's just a little liquid visible.

Add the coconut and stir a couple of times and then add the cashewnuts, raisins and the powdered cardamom. Mix very well and take it off the heat. You can add a teaspoon of ghee at this point if you want and mix it in. The Chakkara Pongal is ready to be served. As with all traditional cooking,especially festive fare, this is offered to the Gods before it is served.

Chakkara Pongal is traditionally not served as dessert but along with breakfast and sometimes lunch.