Sabudana / Javvarisi Payasam

Sabudana / Javvarisi is had during vrat / fasting. And we usually make something savory - either Sabudana Khichdi or Sabudana Vada with it. This is a sweet preparation and my brother - Vinayak Parameswaran, loves it. He used to call it 'muthu payasam' (pearl payasam).

Ingredients:
Javvarisi / Sabudana / sago - 1/2 cup
Milk - 750 ml
Sugar - 1/2 cup or more
Almonds - 1/4 cup
Saffron - 1 pinch
Elaichi / Cardamom - 2

Method:
Soak the Sabudana in 1 cup water for 1/2 an hour.

It will have soaked in some water and expanded. Add 1 more cup water and keep for boiling.

After 10 minutes on low flame it would be cooked.
Add the milk and keep boiling on simmer for 6 - 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and mix well.

Once all the sugar has dissolved, add the saffron, cardamom and almonds.

Cook for 5 more minutes and serve. Once cold it will thicken further.

Akaaravadisil / Kalkanda saadam

Rice and dal cooked in milk and sweetened with sugar candy.

Recipe source : My athai / aunt, Mrs. Jaya Vaidyanathan.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Cheruparippu / green gram dal - 1/8th cup

Milk - 3 cups + 1 cup

Kalkandam / sugar candy - 2 cups

Ghee - 1/2 cup

Cashew nuts - 10 to 15

Saffron - 1 pinch

Cardamom powder - 4, powdered

Method:

Fry the rice in a hot thick bottomed pan for 1 minute. Keep aside.

Fry the dal in the same pan till good smell comes. Add to the rice.

Now wash these 2 together and soak in water for 10- 15 minutes.

Pressure cook the drained rice - dal with 3 cups of milk for 5 whistles.

Please ensure that you take a deep vessel and fill only half way up and place this vessel covered inside the cooker. The milk will spill out otherwise.

When the pressure releases, check to see if the rice and dal are cooked well. Mash with a ladle. 

Add more milk and make it a thick pudding consistency.

Keep it back on the stove and bring to a boil.

Add the sugar candy and mix well.

Once the sugar melts, add the saffron and elaichi powder.

Mix well and turn off  flame.

Fry the cashewnuts in the ghee and add to the sweetened rice.

Paal Payasam

How can any function be complete without a sweet dish / dessert?

Paal payasam is the dish made most commonly in every household in South India (as rice is the staple here.)

It is different from the Kheer available in North India. Kheer is also made with rice, milk and sugar, but the quantity of rice used is much higher thus making it almost 'custardy'.  Payasam is more dilute, 'flowy'.

We use a special type of rice - kaikuthu ari. But this payasam can be made with any variety of rice, basmati included. I have used broken brown rice (kanji / podi ari) here. Adding brown rice, gives the payasam a different hue and not white.

The most famous Paal Payasam is made in Ambalapuzha, a temple in Alappuzha dedicated to Lord Krishna. 

(image source: google images)

(Tanjore painting by God's in Gold)

The following is a video (as shown on Amritha TV) of the process involved in making it.

If you know malayalam, please watch it or else read on.

They make nearly 42 liters of Payasam everyday!!

The preparation for the payasam starts at 7 am with the measuring of milk. For 4 liters of water, 1 liter of milk is added. After boiling this mixture in a 'varpu' till 11 am over the traditional wood fire, a variety of rice indigenous to Kerala is added and cooked for 45 minutes. 

Before the sugar is brought to the kitchen the cook calls out - VASUDEVA (must watch this part!!) and by 12-12.30 pm the payasam is finished.

Minimum time taken : 5 hours!

When the Payasam is being taken to the Lord, 'krishna parindu' (Eagles with white head?) fly over the temple. 

Even though people have taken the cooks from the temple, even the stove from the temple to different locations, they have not been able to replicate the delicate flavor of this milky dessert. 

Must be because it was not made for Ambalapuzha Unni Kannan!

Even though the following recipe is a modern version of this recipe, and the writer is aware that the taste of unnikanna's payasam cannot be replicated, she writes down this recipe with utmost love for the Lord.

May the Lord be with you while you make this payasam and please don't forget to present the same to HIM before you taste it yourself!

Who knows? HE just might bless you with a payasam on par with the temple's!

Important Points:

1. Make Payasam in a thick bottomed vessel.
2. Keep the flame low especially when you move away from the vessel.
3. Stir often.
4. Do not hurry the process.
5. Be alert, as the milk can stick to the bottom of the vessel and burn.
6. If you want to give your payasam a light brown color and a smoky flavor, caramalise some sugar and add the golden dark brown liquid to the prepared payasam. 

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 liter, 1000 ml (full fat milk, preferred)

Sweetened condensed milk (Nestle Milkmaid / Amul MithaiMate) - 200 ml

Sugar - 3 tbsp

Rice - 1/4 cup

Saffron - 1 pinch

Almonds / cashews / raisins - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp (optional)

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

Take a heavy bottomed vessel and pour in 1/2 liter (500 ml) of milk.
Once it boils, add in the washed rice.
Reduce flame.
Stir every now and then and scrap the sides of the vessel to move the malai back into the payasam.
By the time the milk reduces to almost 1/3rd the original quantity, the rice must have cooked.
Now add in the rest of the milk and bring to a boil.
Add the saffron, condensed milk and sugar.
Mix well.
Boil milk again and simmer for 10 minutes on a very low flame.
Keep stirring.
Add the chopped almonds or fry the cashew in ghee till golden and add to the payasam.
Add in the powdered cardamom, if using and mix well.
Serve hot, warm or chilled.

Rasmalai

Rasgulla in sweetened milk.

The process of making Rasgullas and rasmalai is the same.

Deviation from Rasgulla making:

1. When you knead the dough, add a pinch of yellow food color.

2. Do not make small balls. Make small, slightly flattened thick circles.
(I got 16 thick circles from 1 litre milk)

3. Once the rasgulla gets cooked in the sugar syrup, taken them out carefully, cool and squeeze out softly , using the palms of both hands, the extra sugar syrup.

Ingredients for sweetened milk (rabdi):
Milk - 500 ml
Sugar - 6 tbsp
Saffron - 1 pinch
Almonds - 10
Cardamom essence - 2 drops (or) Cardamom - seeds of 2, powdered

Method to prepare sweetened milk:

1. Place the almonds in a microwave safe bowl and add enough water to submerge it. Microwave high for 1 minute. Cool and remove skin. Slice into long thin pieces.
(If you do not have a microwave, then simply soak the almonds in hot water for 1 hour. Peel and slice.)
2. Boil the milk.
3. Move 2 tbsp into a separate bowl and add the saffron strands to this.
4. Into the boiling milk add the sugar and continue cooking till it reduces a bit.
5. Now add the cardamom essence and saffron. Mix well.
6. Add the squeezed rasgullas to this and boil on low flame for 2 minutes.
7. Turn off flame and add some or all of the sliced almonds.

Cool to room temperature and refridgerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Rasgulla

Really? Is it that easy to make rasgullas??

If I tell you that the paneer / cheese from curdled milk, if kneaded well and then poached in sugar syrup, is the recipe for rasgulla, would you believe me?

Let's make rasmalai another day. Today I will show / tell you how I made my rasgullas.
I have underlined the important points you have to be careful about. It is an easy recipe, so don't worry.

Recipe courtesy : Mrs. Pushkala Mani
She uses 4 litres of milk which yields her nearly 80-100 rasgullas depending on the size of the rolled balls. I made with 1 litre and got 25 rasgullas.

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 litre

for curdling milk:

Curd - 6 to 8 tbsp (or)
Lemon juice - 1-2 tbsp

For kneading with paneer:

Rava / semolina - 1/2 tsp

Maida / all purpose flour- 1/8 tsp

For poaching:

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 4 cups

Rose water / cardamom powder / strands of saffron - optional - for flavor

Method:

Boil milk and add the curd / lime juice in a diluted form, by the spoonful till the milk curdles.

Use a thin muslin cloth over a sieve to separate the cheese / paneer from the whey.

Wash this paneer (inside the cloth) under running water for 1 minute and squeeze.

Hang the cloth with the paneer to drain out excess water. There is no need to put any weight over the cheese.

After 20 minutes, take out the paneer and add the maida and rava to it.

Knead. Knead well with your knuckles. This is the MOST IMPORTANT STEP.

The kneaded dough must start giving out it's oil and you must be able to make a cohesive ball.

Start boiling the 4 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar in a large vessel which will have ample space to accommodate all the paneer balls.

Make small perfect balls with the kneaded dough.

Tip: You can keep a pinch of sugar inside each ball. This enhances the sweetness of the paneer balls and also as this sugar melts on cooking, it creates an air pocket.

When the water starts boiling add in the balls one by one.

Keep the water boiling on a steady medium flame and cook covered for 20 minutes. Do not increase or decrease flame as any fluctuation in temperature affects the 'look' of the rasgullas.

After 20 minutes, turn off flame and add the rose water / cardamom / saffron, if using.

Look at how they have expanded!!

To check if your rasgullas are ready, pick one and add to a glass of water. If it sinks to the bottom, then it is cooked. Otherwise boil covered for a further 5 minutes.

Cool to room temperature and taste your lovely rasgullas!!

Gajar ka halwa / Carrot sweet

There is something about this seasonal sweet......

When I think back to my childhood , my North Indian friends talked so much about this sweet after their Christmas vacation in Delhi / North India. In those days, these carrots were not available in south India. Gajar Ka halwa - what was that? And my friends swore that 'carrot halwa' was NOT tasting as yum as it's north Indian cousin.I waited long to taste this sweet.

But now there has been an over-kill. All restaurants and wedding receptions have it at their buffet counter!!

So why make it at home?

I really don't know! Probably because when I went to the market, I saw two North Indian ladies, bent over the 'Dilli gajar' and nit picking juicy ones while talking excitedly. 

So I too chose 1/2 a kilo of this carrot variant much against my husband's wishes!!

Must say that this sweet takes a long time to stew and cook , but the end result is worth the 1 hour effort!

(I would strongly recommend you make this sweet while doing some other cooking on the side, as it is really boring to stand and stir ever so often.)

I have used the same quantity of milk as the amount of grated carrot (1:1), but my neighbor Mrs.Lakshmi Agarrwal was saying that she adds double the quantity of milk. So you can choose whatever quantity you want 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:1and 1/2....The more milk you add, the more time it will take to cook.

Ingredients:

Delhi Carrot - 1/2 kg 

Milk - same quantity as grated carrot

Sugar - 1 cup

(optional) Khoya (unsweetened reduced milk) - 3/4 cup

Ghee - 3 and 1/2 tbsp

Garnish:

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Almonds - 12

(soaked, peeled and chopped into slivers)

Method:

Wash, peel and grate the carrots.

(Psst: I used my chopper! Sacrilege!! But my triceps thanked me!)

I got 3 and 1/2 cups of finely minced carrot.
Take a heavy bottomed vessel and tip in the milk ( I used 3 1/2 cups, same amount as grated carrots) and carrot.

Start cooking. Stir occasionally. Scrape the sides of the vessel each time you stir.

When the milk has reduced to barely coat the carrot, add in the sugar and khoya (if using).

Suddenly you will notice that the quantity has increased. Cook this down again.

Then add the ghee.

Mix well and cook till there is no liquid oozes out of the carrot halwa.

Garnish with cardamom powder and almonds.

Once cooled, transfer to a closed container and refridgerate.

Serve warm. (Microwave portions before serving.)

Tender coconut pudding

This is the most easy and tasty pudding ever!!

Recipe coutesy : Mrs. Seema Sreejith 

Sweetened condensed milk (Milkmaid / Amul Mithai Mate): 1 tin

Milk : 1 tin

Sugar : 6 tsp

Tender coconut water : 1 cup

Tender coconut flesh : of 2-3 coconuts

China grass : 10 gms

Soak the china grass in 1 1/2 large cups of water for 1 hour.

Take 2 vessels.
After 1 hour of soaking, break the soaked china grass into the water and  pour into 1 vessel. Add a bit more water if you feel necessary.

In another heavy bottomed deep vessel mix together the condensed milk, milk and 4 tsp sugar.Keep aside after stirring so that the milk and sugar mixes with the thick condensed milk

Keep the china grass for boiling on one stove top.

Simultaneously, on another stove, keep the milk mixture for boiling.
Cook both on a low flame and keep stirring both the vessels constantly.

Once the china grass melts, add it to the boiling milk and cook for 1 more minute. Continue to stir constantly.

Turn off flame.

Grind the tender coconut with the coconut water and 2 tsp of sugar coarsely.

Add this to the boiled milk and china grass mixture.

Transfer into your setting dish.

Once it cools to room temperature , transfer to the fridge. NOT freezer.

Serve cold with a drizzle of honey!