Festivals in India are not only an occasion for prayers and celebration, it is also an opportunity to enjoy traditional food items. At the beginning of the year, it is time to relish traditional Makar Sankranti dishes from across the country. Sankranthi is a festival that celebrates the harvest and is also an opportunity to express gratitude to nature for its benevolence.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – A Spectrum of Tastes And Flavours

The harvest is celebrated across the country in different forms, if it is Pongal in Tamil Nadu, it is Lohri in Punjab, and Uttarayan in Gujarat. But what unites the country is the wide range of traditional dishes with regional variations.

Though the dishes are as varied as the different states of India, there is a common thread in all the recipes. Most if not all of the dishes use one or the other of these ingredients, which include, Sesame seeds(Til), Groundnuts, Jaggery, Lentils, Rice, fresh vegetables like Brinjal, Hyacinth Beans, Sweet Potatoes, etc.

Read on to feast on some of the traditional Makar Sankranti dishes from across India.

Makar Sankranti Dishes From South India

Here are some dishes without which Makar Sankranti cannot be complete. They are from the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, with minor variations.

Pongal Festival Dishes – Sakkare Pongal

Sakkara Pongal or sweet Pongal is a signature dish that graces the Pongal festival in Tamil Nadu. It is also made in the other southern states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana on the occasion of Makar Sankranthi. It is a sweet dish in which rice mixed with lentils is cooked with jaggery. It is also known as Huggi.

Pongal Festival Dishes – Khara Pongal

Khara Pongal is similar to the Khichdi of the western and northern regions. This dish is made of rice and lentils cooked together with salt and other spices. Vegetables may also be added to it. Another variant is called Rava Pongal in which instead of rice and lentils, Semolina or Soji is used.

Pongal Festival Dishes – Sakkare Acchu

Sakkare Acchu is a fascinating preparation popular in the state of Karnataka on the occasion of the Makar Sankranti festival. Sakkare Acchu is sugar candies that are made in different shapes. These are made with the use of wooden moulds. They are made in the shape of fruits, animals and birds, and different shapes. Sugar syrup is made and then poured into the wooden moulds and removed after cooling.

Sakkare Acchu along with a mixture called Yellu, consisting of Sesame seeds, groundnuts, roasted gram, sugar or jaggery shavings are exchanged with friends and relatives on Makkar Sankranti.

Pongal Festival Dishes – Kalagaya Kura

Kalagaya Kura is a traditional Makar Sankranti dish that is made during the festival in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is a vegetable curry made from winter vegetables that have been freshly harvested. These include vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, fenugreek leaves, etc. The Kalagaya Kura is eaten either with rice or Rotis.

Pongal Festival Dishes – Ariselu

Ariselu is a sweet dish popular in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana that is made during Makar Sankranti. Its variants known by different names are also made in other states. In Karnataka, it is called Kajjaya and in Tamil Nadu, it is called Adhirasam. In the state of Maharashtra, it is called Anarsa. The dish is made of rice flour and jaggery.

Makar Sankranti Dishes From West India

Here are some popular dishes that add their flavours and aromas to the festival of Makar Sankranti in the western states of India.

Uttarayan Festival Dishes – Undhiyu

Undhiyu is a popular dish that is an iconic dish prepared during the festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti in Gujarat. Traditionally the dish is cooked in earthen pots underground. Seasonal winter vegetables like Brinjals, broad beans, raw bananas, sweet potatoes, etc are cooked together with spices to make Undhiyu. This dish is best eaten with hot pooris. Undhiyu is also served as a dish in the famed Gujarati Thali.

Makar Sankranti Sweets – Puran Poli

Puran Poli is a traditional sweet dish of Maharashtra that is prepared during festivals including Makar Sankranti. Puran Poli is known as Obattu in Karnataka. It is made from wheat flour or refined wheat flour and a stuffing of jaggery and cooked lentils.

Uttarayan Festival Sweets – Til Laddu

Til or Sesame is a common ingredient during Makar Sankranti and finds its way into many traditional dishes across the country. Til Laddu is made of sesame seeds, jaggery, coconut powder, and dry fruits. Variations of Til laddu are made all over India.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Khichdi

The humble Khichdi figures prominently under different names and variations in the festival menus for Makar Sankranti across different states of India. It is a single pot dish where freshly harvested pulses and rice is cooked together. It may also be garnished with spices including curry leaves and coriander, and boiled vegetables added, depending on the region.

Makar Sankranti Sweets – Til Chikki

Sesame seeds are an essential ingredient and the star during the Makar Sankranti festival, in various forms. Til Chikki is a sweet made from sesame seeds and jaggery and is popular across western India, and other regions too. Lonavla in Maharashtra is famous for different types of Chikki including Til Chikki.

Uttarayan Festival Dishes – Groundnut Chikki

Groundnut is another crop that is widely used during Makar Sankranti celebrations. Chikki made using groundnuts and jaggery is another popular sweet that is eaten during Makar Sankranti, though it is popular throughout the year too.

Uttarayan Festival Sweets – Kachariyu

Kachariyu is a popular winter sweet popular in Gujarat. It is made of Sesame seeds, jaggery, and generous helpings of dry fruits. There are variations made from white Til or Black til. During Makar Sankranti and in the winter months, hand carts selling Kachariyu are a common sight in Gujarat.

Makar Sankranti Dishes From East India

The states of Eastern India, have their own versions of sesame seed sweets and other delicacies that are prepared during Makar Sankranti.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Makara Chaula

Makara Chaula is a traditional Makar Sankranti dish from the state of Odisha. It is made from ground rice from the fresh crop, milk, cottage cheese, Jaggery, sugarcane, and fresh fruits.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Nolen Gurer Payesh

This is a dessert from West Bengal, that is made during Makar Sankranti and also other festivals and celebrations. The dish is made from rice, date palm jaggery, and milk. It is essentially a rice pudding, made by boiling rice and milk together and reducing it to a creamy consistency.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Chiwda Curd (Dahi Chooda)

This is a popular dish for breakfast in the state of Bihar. It assumes special significance during the Makar Sankranti festival.  The speciality of Dahi Choora Gur is that it not only satisfies your sweet cravings but is also healthy. The dish is made from curd, Poha or flattened rice, and jaggery or honey. All the ingredients are tossed together. It is a dish that can be whipped up in a jiffy.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Ramdane Ka Laddu

This is another traditional dish from Bihar that is made during Makar Sankranti. It is made from puffed Rajgira, which is also known as Ramdana. Jaggery, dry fruits like Cashewnuts and Raisins are also added along with Cardamom for flavouring. It is made in the form of balls into laddus, and hence the name, Ramdane Ka Laddu.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Gokul Pithe

Gokul Pithe is a dish from West Bengal, that is traditionally made during Makar Sankranti. In Bengal Makar Sankranti is known as Poush Parbon, To make Gokul Pithe, a mixture of jaggery and grated coconut is stuffed into little balls of dough, which is then flattened and deep-fried.

Makar Sankranti Dishes From North India

Here are some of the dishes that are part of the traditional celebrations of Lohri or Makar Sankranti, in north India.

Lohri Festival Sweets – Pinni

Pinni is a sweet dish from Punjab, that is very popular during the winter. Pinni is made during different festivals and celebrations. It is made from wheat flour, jaggery, and almonds. It is a sweet that is made in the form of small laddus.

Makar Sankranti Dishes – Ghughute

Ghughute is a condiment that is prepared traditionally during Makar Sankranti in the state of Uttarakhand. This dish is especially popular in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. It is made from wheat flour, semolina, jaggery, and milk. All the ingredients are mixed into a dough and then made into different shapes and deep-fried. The festival is very popular with kids and they give Ghughutes to birds returning for the winter.

Lohri Festival Sweets – Ganne Ke Ras Ki Kheer

This is a traditional sweet dish from the state of Punjab. It is made in the winters during the festival season of Makar Sankranti and Lohri. It is a kheer that is made with rice and sugarcane juice, milk, and dry fruits.

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Happy Makar Sankranti!

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