5 Modern Pongal Dessert Recipes Using Chocolate, Nuts and Dry Fruits
Written by jheelum basu | January 17, 2026
The four-day-long festival of Pongal is all about celebrating a prosperous harvest and expressing gratitude to the Sun God and farm animals. And, sweets have always been important to the celebrations as they symbolize prosperity, happiness, and gratitude for a bountiful harvest. Moreover, sweets also carry the essence of the ‘sweetness of life’ and the abundance.
While the festival revolves around traditions like bonfire cleaning and worshipping animals, sweets always complete the picture of the auspicious celebration. Making traditional sweets like Sakkarai Pongal, payasam, and rava pongal is almost a household ritual during this time. However, with time, the fusion desserts are also gaining popularity. Featuring the goodness of dried fruits and nuts and the decadence of chocolate, these pongal dessert recipes bring in a touch of modernity like never before.
Why Are Fusion Pongal Desserts Gaining Popularity?
The modern fusion Pongal desserts effortlessly blend the charm of tradition and the versatility of new-age nutty, chocolatey spins. Besides adding more to the taste and flavor profile, the modern twists are particularly helpful in making the Pongal dessert recipes reach a larger number of people. These days, be it a sakkarai pongal, rava pongal, or payasam, chocolate smoothly blends with almost every Pongal dessert. Besides, the addition of dried fruits, nuts, and millets also makes them cater to the health-conscious trends. Here’s a list of the top five Pongal dessert recipes with a delicious modern twist to try this year.
1. Chocolate Sakkarai Pongal
This chocolatey delight features nothing but a simple modern twist to the traditional sakkarai pongal dish. Made with rice, dal, cocoa powder, ghee, jaggery, water, nuts, and condensed milk (optional), this modern dish brings comfort and joy with every single bite.
To make this dish, start by cooking soft, aromatic rice and moong dal with a generous amount of ghee, cocoa powder, jaggery, and condensed milk. The result is always a luxuriously creamy chocolate sakkarai. To add some crunch to the creamy, sweet delight, raisins and chopped nuts such as cashews and almonds are often added on top.
2. Choco-Nutty Payasam
Payasam (creamy, pudding-like rice kheer) has always been an integral part of the Tamil harvest festival. This key side dish is often served alongside Sakkarai Pongal. However, this modern version includes the richness of chocolate while keeping the traditional recipe in place. Made with ingredients like rice, jaggery (or sugar), cocoa powder, ghee, milk, nuts, cardamom powder, and raisins, chocolate payasam is a delectable dish to celebrate the harvest festival.
3. Rava Pongal in Mini Chocolate Cups
While a classic rava pongal is loved by all for its savory, rich, and comforting taste, how about serving it on little edible chocolate cups this year? This recipe combines the taste of rava pongal with the richness of chocolate in the most creative way.
To make the chocolate cups, melt dark chocolate, shape it into mini cups in silicone moulds, and freeze to set. The filling is made with semolina, moong dal, jaggery, and cardamom powder. Once the cups are out of the fridge, fill them with the rava pongal and garnish them with some fried nuts and serve.
4. Nutty Chocolatey Pongal Parfait
While Sweet Pongal always rules the dessert buffet of the harvest festival, this recipe is all about giving it a nutty, chocolatey, parfait-like makeover. This fusion dessert features layers of chocolate pongal and complementary ingredients like yogurt, nuts, and granola, in a tall glass.
While the base is a chocolate pongal (as mentioned above), the dessert is assembled in layers. While the chocolate pongal brings in the rich, chocolatey flavor, yogurt introduces a creamy texture with a slightly tangy taste profile. The layers of nuts and granola here provide the much-needed crunchiness. Once perfectly assembled in a clear, tall glass, it is often garnished with fresh fruit or a drizzle of honey.
5. Chocolate Mysore Pak
Mysore Pak is a classic Tamilian sweet often enjoyed during Pongal. And a classic chocolatey twist makes it even more suitable for the occasion these days. Made by blending besan (chickpea flour), ghee, and sugar with rich cocoa powder, chocolate Mysore pak is all about its melt-in-the-mouth texture that never fails to win hearts.
The addition of chocolate makes it richer and more indulgent, making it a perfect option for gifting or festive occasions.
Conclusion:
This Pongal, make sure the dessert menu includes the modern twists like never before. Try these nutty, chocolatey Pongal dessert recipes to turn the celebrations into a fun fiesta.