payasam

Halasina Hannu Berati Payasa / Preserved jack fruit payasam:

September 2, 2018

First, I want to wish a very very happy “Krishna Janmashtami” to all my readers. On the eve of this festival I made our traditional payasam and enjoyed with my family.

“Berati” is nothing but preserved jackfruit pulp, which is cooked until it forms into thick mass and usually made during Jack fruit season and stored for future use.

How to preserve jackfruit / Berati is already shared in my blog and it is here .

In Coastal region we love jack in many forms. Berati Payasa is one of them.

Now we will see traditionally how it is made:

Ingredients:

Berati / jackfruit preserve – 1 bowl

Coconut – 1 (To extract milk)

-OR-

Thin coconut milk – 2cups

Thick coconut milk – ½ cup

Jaggery – to taste

Salt – ½ tsp

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

For Seasoning:

Ghee – 1 tbl sp

Thin Coconut slices – 2 tbl sp

Cashew pieces – 2 tbl sp

Toasted black sesame – 1 table spoon

Fresh coconut slices – 1 to 2 table spoons

Method:

Take out Berati from your freezer and keep aside for some time to attain room temperature.
Slice coconut by using small knife, chop these sliced pieces into small bits.

Toast black sesame and keep aside.
Take little ghee and fry coconut bits and keep aside.

If you want to, you can add ghee roasted cashew bits as well.
Grate coconut (coconut should be fresh), put one cup of water and grind this in a mixer jar and extract milk by sieving this ground mixture.
This is thick coconut milk and you should keep this separately. We use this at the end stage of Payasa making.
Do this procedure a couple of times to get a thin extract and lastly discard coconut fibre.
If you are using readymade coconut milk, please skip this step.
Now take one thick bottomed vessel, put Berati, thin coconut milk and dissolve Berati and keep this on a gas stove to boil.

Usually while making Berati, we put little jaggery, so add required amount of jaggery and boil until raw smell of the jaggery vanishes.
Lastly add thick extract of coconut milk and give one boil. Don’t boil it much. Add Cardamom powder and mix.

Remove from fire and add fried coconut pieces, toasted black sesame or cashew brittles to prepared Payasa.
Serve with lunch thali or as a dessert.

NOTE:

Traditionally only toasted sesame and coconut bits are added.

Pasta and Carrot Kheer:

February 23, 2018

My teenage daughter who loves to experiment in food as well as to try or taste new combinations gave an idea to mix her favourite pasta with carrot in payasam and here is the result. I want to dedicate this post to her.

I did follow any regular kheer recipe. To give an extra zing I added ghee fried Chironji and carrot.

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Recipe follows like this-

Ingredients:

Pasta – 1 small cup

Chironji – 2 table spoons

Carrot – 1 (grated)

Ghee – 1 table spoon

Milk – 1 litre pack

Sugar – As needed

Cardamom powder – ½ tea spoon

Method:

-First cook pasta. Boil water, put one tea spoon of oil and ½ tea spoon of salt in it.

Ribbet collage 1

-Drop pasta and cook until Al Dente and drain, keep aside.

-Take one thick bottomed wok, add ghee.

-Fry Chironji, then carrot, until it changes colour.

Ribbet collage 2

-Add milk and cook until milk becomes little thick and becomes little cream in colour or reduced to ¾ th.

Ribbet collage 3

-Add sugar and boil. Now drop in drained pasta, garnish with cardamom, mix and adjust the consistency by boiling more or adding more milk if needed.

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-Serve hot and enjoy the treat with your loved ones.

Paramanna/ Pindi payasam:

January 13, 2018

Pindi payasam is nothing but our traditional rice kheer without adding any milk or coconut milk, which is usually offered to god as a Naivedyam and served as a prasadam at any pooja. It is considered as a favourite of goddess Devi. When I look back and think, Pandan leaves were widely used in our region(Mangalore) as well. One can make this payasam even without adding Pandan leaves.

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Pandan leaves are known as gandhasaale ele in our Mangalore region.
Gandhasaale rice is a traditional, flavoured and scented rice variety of Karnataka and Kerala, cultivated in small pockets. Gandhasaale rice is the best rice for meals, Pulav, payasam and other eatables. The Gandhasaale rice is known especially for its rich aroma. It is also called Kerala’s basmati.
In our native, to get aroma of “gandhasaale” in ordinary rice, my grand mom used to put these leaves in, while cooking the rice. Pandan (Scientific Name: Pandanus, also known as screw pine or palm pine) is a herbaceous tropical plant that grows in Southeast-Asia. In Chinese, it is known as ‘fragrant plant’ because of its unique, sweet aroma. The cultivated plant features upright bright green leaves, and it’s the leaves that are used for cooking up many Thai and Southeast-Asian dishes. Pandan is also made into a paste that is used in cakes and desserts, much the way we use vanilla flavouring in the Western cuisine. However, in addition to flavour, Pandan paste also instil foods with a bright green colour. Some Thai and Malayan desserts which I have tasted are Pandan baked cake, Pandan jelly and Pandan sticky rice in Malaysia. Personally, I dint like it much because of its overpowering fragrance and felt that, like my ajji (grand mom), one should use one or 2 leaves to get that perfect blend.

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Ingredients:

White rice – 1 cup (I have used small grain rice)

Grated jaggery – 1 cup

Ghee – 2to 3 table spoons

Coconut – 2 table spoons (grated)

Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon

Pandan leaves – 2

Cashew bits – as needed

Method:

-Wash rice, Pandan leaves. Soak rice for 10 minutes.

-Boil 2 to 3 cups of water, add rice, Pandan leaves and cook until it is done.

Ribbet collage 1

-After cooking, remove Pandan leaves.

-In the meantime, take one cup of water, boil, add jaggery and melt.

-Sieve this solution and remove all the impurities.

-Add this solution to cooked rice and boil.

-When the mixture becomes thick, add ghee and mix nicely.

Ribbet collage 2

-Lastly add coconut, cardamom powder and give a stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until it becomes like a creamy mass.

-Roast cashew bits in a little ghee and garnish.

-If you want to offer this to god, do that and then serve. Other wise serve hot and enjoy this delicacy.

Akki Rotti Payasa /Rice flat bread kheer:

December 6, 2017

Happiness is when one of your readers messages you regarding this recipe, which he used to relish in his childhood and attempted a couple of times without any success. He wanted to know the exact recipe for the same, with proper measurements. When he explained about this payasam, I was clueless and thought it must be his grand mom’s own creation to fulfil the needs of her big family by making it easier. He patiently explained the process about how his grand mom used to prepare it and What amazed me was, as a small child, he has seen and observed how his grand mom does etc. After listening to his explanation, it was like a dream to me. I couldn’t resist, and wanted to try it out As soon as possible. The next day was my wedding anniversary and I grabbed the opportunity and started my experiment. It indeed was a treat and I was super duper happy with the result. Here is the recipe and I am dedicating it to that great soul from whom this recipe came to light and my reader who has shared his childhood nostalgic memories with me by explaining it patiently.

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Now we will see how I proceeded with the recipe-

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 1 small cup

Salt

Jaggery – 4 small cubes

One fresh coconut – to extract milk

Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon.

Banana leaves – 2 pieces

Ghee – 1 tea spoon

Cashew pieces – 2 table spoons

Method:

-Wash and soak Dosa rice for 2 hours.

-Grind the rice into smooth paste with sufficient water (use soaked water itself) and salt.

Ribbet collage 1

-Batter should be of spreadable consistency (little thinner than regular Dosa batter)

-Next is a coconut milk extraction:

Ribbet collage 2

-Take fresh gratings, put one cup of water and grind into smooth paste and extract milk through sieve. This milk is a thick milk and is used at the end. Hence, it should be kept aside separately.

-Now once again take roughage of the coconut, put one more cup of water and grind, sieve the paste and it is our second extraction of milk.

-Repeat the process and take out a third extraction as well and if you are using the roughage of the coconut in any other purpose, you can store it in a freezer for future use.

– Take one wide thick bottomed vessel, Pour diluted, very thin milk (3 rd. extraction) and jaggery. Boil nicely.

Ribbet collage 3

-Now pour second extraction of milk (thin milk) and boil further.

-Now start preparing Rotti, take one clean banana leaf, spread a ladle of rice batter and spread as thin as possible and flip this leaf over boiling jaggery solution.

Ribbet collage 4

-Within 2 minutes, it will be ready to remove. Now start pulling your banana leaf by peeling it slowly.

-After peeling, if at all some cooked Rotti part remains, take one flat ladle and remove and put it in the boiling jaggery solution.

-Repeat the procedure, until batter finishes. I did it 4 times.

-Now boil this further for 3 to 4 minutes and mix it in-between by using very light hand.

Ribbet collage 5

-It is the time to use thick first extract of the coconut milk.

-When it starts boiling, remove from the flame. Add cardamom powder and ghee fried cashews and serve hot.

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Note:

We liked this dessert as a Hot option.
When it cools down, at room temperature it tastes good.
Under refrigeration, if Rotti pieces becomes slightly hard, one can relish after re heating.

Sheer Khurma/ Sheer Khorma:

September 1, 2017

Sheer Khurma is also known as Sheer Khorma. The term represents Milk with dry dates. It is Vermicelli kheer with lots and lots of dry fruits and dry dates. It is a traditional sweet dish, which is served during Eid Ul Fitr.

I wanted to try this recipe from so long. I took my house-help’s help to gather how it is made and she described to me how her mom used to make this on festival days. She guided me on how to chop all these dry fruits as well.

sheer ori

Ingredients:

Milk – 1.5 litres.

Ghee – 2 to 3 tbl spoon (to fry all the dry fruits)

Sugar – to taste (used almost ½ cup)

Dry dates – ¼ cup (sliced length wise)

Almond – ¼ cup (slivered)

Cashew – 2 table spoon (bits)

Pista – ¼ cup (chopped)

Raisins – 2 table spoons

Chironji – 2 table spoons

Vermicelli – ¼ cup

Saffron – 8 to 10 strands

Cardamom – ½ tea spoon.

Method:

-Take ghee in a thick bottomed kadai and roast vermicelli, remove and keep aside.

– Fry all the dry fruits one by one.

– Soak saffron in 2 table spoons of hot milk and keep aside.

– Take roasted vermicelli and dry fruits together in this same kadai and pour milk and boil.

– Cook this until you see a creamy texture and vermicelli is perfectly done.

– It takes anywhere between fifteen to twenty minutes.

– Now add in sugar and check for the sweetness and adjust the quantity and boil.

– Lastly add soaked saffron and cardamom powder.

– You can serve this as a hot dessert or chilled.

Kadle Bele –Gerubeeja Payasa / Chana dal and Cashew Kheer:

March 29, 2017

Happy Yugadi! Yugadi is celebrated as the beginning of a new year in India (but through different names). In Bangalore, we start this festival by eating neem and jaggery. Neem denotes the bitterness we face in life, and the jaggery represents all the sweet things of life. By eating the neem and jaggery together, it is a symbol of promising ourselves to face the bitterness and sweetness of life with confidence.

In Mangalore, we celebrate this festival by savouring a kadle Bele (Bengal gram or chanadal) and gerubeeja (raw cashew) Payasa. It is a delicious dessert which is made more delightful because of the cashew nuts which are present in every spoonful.

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We will see the procedure –

Ingredients:

Chana dal/Split Bengal gram – 1 cup

Whole raw Cashew – 1 cup

Coconut milk – 1 tetra pack

Jaggery – 1 ½ block (used Organic jaggery blocks)

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp.

Salt – ½ tsp.

Method:

-At first we have to remove outer cover of the young cashew. Take one bowl, put all those young and raw cashew kernels into it, pour boiling water and keep it aside for 10 to 15 minutes by closing the lid.

-When outer cover of the kernels swells, remove the outer cover and keep aside.

collage 1

-Wash chana dal and cook this in a cooker by putting sufficient water for two whistles.

-Cook dal till it is perfectly cooked. Dal should be well cooked and easily crushed. Doneness is very important, after adding jaggery, dal becomes little stiff and firm.

– When its pressure relieves add cashew kernels and cook. After one whistle, switch off the gas and cool this.

-Now add salt and jaggery and boil till you get a nice aroma and till the raw smell of jaggery disappears.

– When it is done, add one tetra pack of coconut milk and give one boil. That is it. Garnish with powdered cardamom and enjoy.

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Note: –

– If you don’t have access to raw cashew kernels, you can use regular cashew and you can cook this with Chana dal for 3 whistles and proceed by adding jaggery.

– If you are using fresh coconut for extracting milk, take grated coconut (from one coconut), add one cup of water and grind, and extract milk. (This is a thick extract and should be added at the end)

– Once again add little water and grind, to take out thin milk and you can add this while boiling jaggery.

– If you are using regular jaggery, at first self-boil this with little water, make a liquid and sieve this before adding to the kheer, to remove impurities.

Bamboo Rice Payasam

November 21, 2016

Hey, it is my first post and I am super excited!!!

Want this to dedicate all my near and dears who have inspired me to start my own space and pestered me throughout. When I was thinking what to post as a first step, I remembered this recipe!

Bamboo rice is very famous in western ghat region, especially in Wayanad and Munnar region of Kerala state. It is locally known as Mulayari. Usually tribal folks will collect this and supply to the local societies. Now a day I have seen this rice in so many organic exhibitions at Bangalore as well. I had received this unknown ingredient as a gift from my sister, who bought it from her Munnar trip, as a “new item to try” who always encouraged me to try out new recipes and appreciated my preparation throughout.

Ingredients:

Bamboo rice – 1 cup

Jaggery – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups (if you are using tinned coconut milk)

-OR-

Thin coconut milk – 2 cups

Thick coconut milk – 1 cup

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Coconut bits – 1 table spoon

Cashew bits – 1 table spoon

Ghee /clarified butter – 1 table spoon.

Salt – ¼ tea spoon.

Method:

-Wash Bamboo rice twice and soak this for half an hour.

– Cook this soaked rice in a cooker for 3 to 4 whistles with sufficient water.

– When it is cooked, it will be soft and you can crush it easily.

-Now add jaggery and thin coconut milk and boil this until raw smell of the jaggery vanishes.

-If you are using tinned coconut milk, add water after adding jaggery.

-When it is done, add thick coconut milk, cardamom, salt. Don’t boil much, give only one boil. Remove from the heat.

-Now take one small tawa, add little ghee, fry coconut bits and cashew separately and add this to payasam.

Enjoy this when it is hot. Don’t cool this in a fridge, outer cover of the rice tends to become hard and chewy.