Paal Payasam / Rice Kheer - Maha Shivaratri Naivedyam Recipe

I prepared Paal Payasam this time for Shvaratri. Paal apayasam is made of raw rice, milk and sugar. This traditional dessert is made on auspicious and festival days. Payasams are always easy to prepare and they never fail you. Here goes the recipe for Paal Payasam,

Ingredients:

Milk - 8 cups (i used small coffee tumbler) 
Sugar - 1 cup 
Raw rice - 3 tbsp (i used basmathi rice)
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Cashews and raisins - each 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:

Add milk to a heavy bottom pan and bring to boil. 
Heat ghee in a pan. Add the cashews and raisins and fry till they turn light brown and keep aside.
In the same ghee add the rice and fry till it turn very light brown. 
Add the fried rice to the boiling milk.
Keep the flame in low and stir the milk in frequent intervals.
Keep watching the milk, to avoid burning at the bottom. Also place a ladle in the milk to avoid overflow. 
Once the milk reach half of its quantity, check if the rice get cooked well.
Keep the process till the rice got cooked.
Now add the cardamom powder, cashews and raisins.

Remove from the heat and serve hot or cold after refrigerating it. 

Last year I prepared Paasi Paruppu Payasam and here is the little intro for Shivaratri Festival  

Paasi paruppu Payasam / Moong dal Kheer:

Paasi paruppu or Yellow moong dal payasam is one of the many varieties of payasam. I prepared this payasam on the occasion of Shivaratri. It’s very easy and tasty, also healthy. As we are not adding sugar in this payasam, it’s better for health. Adding jaggery to the dish, which is prepared for neivedyam (offering) to God, is considered more special.

Ingredients:

Moon dal – ½ cup

Jaggery – 1cup

Water – 1 ½ cup

Milk – 4 cups

Cashew – 5 to 7 numbers

Raisin – 1tbsp

Ghee – 1tbsp

Method:

Fry the moong dal (without oil) in a pan or in the pressure cooker till it turns light brown.

Add 1 ½ cups water to the dal and cook in pressure cooker (3 whistles)

Boil the milk and keep aside.

Once the dal get cooked, smash it with a ladle and add little water and jaggery.

Let them boil for 5min.

Now add the boiled milk and boil the payasam for 15min.

Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and keep aside.

Once the payasam reaches its constancy add the fried cashews and raisin and remove from heat.

Now the Moong dal payasam is ready to serve.

Aadi Pathinettu Recipes

Aadi pathinettu or Aadi peruku is a festival celebrated every year 18^th day of Tamil month ‘Aadi’ ( mid-July to mid-August). In this period of the year, the river water level rises after the yearly monsoon. People, especially women do the water rituals, near the river banks to show their gratitude to the mother nature. A thanks giving, to the water sources for making their life prosperous. Kalandha sadam (variety rice) is the main menu on this special day along with sweet and vada. I prepared,

Pal payasam,
Thengai sadam,
Puli sadam,
Thayir sadam and
More Kuzhambu.

 

Here goes the recipes..

Thengai Sadam / Coconut Rice

Puli Sadam / pulikachal sadam / puliyogare / tamarind rice:

 

Puli sadham is made with cooked rice and pulikachal mix.

Pulikachal Mix:

Ingredients:

Puli – small lime size (soak in water and extract the juice)
Red chilli -7 to 8 numbers
Peanuts – 1tbsp
Hing – ¼ tsp
Chana dal – 1tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Black sesame/ karuppu ellu seeds (powdered) – ½ tsp
Coriander seeds powdered – ½ tsp
Vendayam / fenugreek powdered – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves chopped – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Sesame oil / nallennai – ¼ cup

Method:

Soak the tamarind in ½ cup water.
Dry roast coriander seeds, sesame seeds, fenugreek separately. Powder them separately and keep aside.

Dry roast the peanuts, remove the skin and keep side.

Make thick extract out of the soaked tamarind and keep aside
In a heavy pan or kadai, heat the sesame oil ( if not available, use any refined oil).
When the oil is ready, creak mustard seeds, add chana dal, hing, curry leaves, red chilli, peanuts and fry for few seconds.
Pour the tamarind extract followed by turmeric powder and salt.
Stir and let them boil for 10min in low flame.
When the oil starts oozing out, add all the powers (sesame , coriander, fenugreek) one by one and mix well.
Let them boil for 2more min.
Remove from the fire.

Puli sadham:

Mix the pulikachal to the cooked rice 1 hour before serving.
There is lot of side dishes which makes puli sadham more yummy, chips, vadam, papad, raita, potato fry, more kuzhambu.

Pal Payasam/ Kheer:

A kheer, made with cooked rice and Milk.

 

Ingredients:

Milk – ½ litter
Raw rice – ¼ cup
Sugar – ¾ cup
Cardamom powder – a pinch
Ghee – 2 tsp

Garnishing

Cashew nut – 1tbsp
Raisin – 1tsp

Method

In a pan add ghee, cashew nuts, raisin and fry. Keep aside
In the same ghee add the raw rice and fry for 1min in low flame.
Pressure cook the rice adding water ¾ cup. (3 whistle).
Boil the milk and add the cooked rice.
Stir well and add sugar. Let them boil for 2min.
Add cardamom powder and remove from fire.
Garnish with cashew and raisin.

More Kuzhambu:

In simple, More Kuzhambu is a type of Kuzhambu made with curd and coconut masala.

Ingredients:

Thick curd – 1cup
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Shredded coconut – 1tbsp
Pottu kadalai / roasted gram split – 1tbsp
Green chilli – 2numbers
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Ginger – 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 1tbsp
Hing – a small pinch
Salt to taste
Coconut oil or refind oil – 2tsp

Method

Add water ½ cup to the thick curd and beat well.
Add turmeric and salt to the curd and bring to boil.
Boil them for just 2min in low flame.
Grind coconut, cumin, green chilli, ginger, roasted gram split adding little water.
Add the past to the boiling curd.
Let them boil for 5min.
Remove from fire.
In a small kadai, heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, when they splutter add hing and curry leaves.
Pour them to the more kuzhambu.
Now the yummy More Kuzhambu is ready. Serves with hot rice, or serve as a side dish for the Varity rice.

Thayir Sadam:

The simplest but yummiest rice variety made with cooked rice and curd.

Method:

In a small pan add any refined oil, add mustard seeds, when they start cracking add finelly chopped green chilli, finely chopped ginger, urad dal and hing. Remove from the fire and pour them to the cooked rice.
Add some salt and thick curd along with little milk and water.
Mix well with a ladle.

Serve with any pickle.

Semiya Payasam / Vermicelli Kheer

Every special occasion or festival doesn’t get a completion without having payasam / Kheer. It’s a custom in some South Indian weddings to serve payasam first before other dishes are served. Payasam is considered as a symbol of happiness, to share the happiness with others. It’s also an easy dessert to prepare as they don’t demand much time or ingredients. Semiya payasam is one of the verities of payasam. Both roasted and non- roasted semiya can be used to make this payasam. As cashews are not available in my pantry I used only raisin for topping. Otherwise both, roasted cashews and raisins can be used.

Ingredients:

Semiya / Vermicelli – 1cup
Milk – ½ litter
Water – 2 ½ cups
Sugar – 1cup
Cardamom powder – 1/2tsp
Badam – 8numbers
Raisin – 1tbsp
Ghee – 1tbsp

Method:

 

Boil the ½ litter milk (approximately 4cups) till they reach 3cup consistency.
Soak badam in water for 1hr. Peel off the skin and grind in a blender adding little water.
In a heavy bottom pan add ghee 1tbsp, raisin and fry for few seconds.
Remove the raisins and keep aside. In the same ghee add the semiya and fry till they turn light brown.
Now add the water to it and close the pan and cook till the semiya gets softer.
Once the semiya is ready, add the boiled milk and sugar. Stir once and let them boil for 5min in low flame.
Add the badam paste and make them boil for 3 more minutes.
Add the cardamom powder and raisin to the kheer and remove from the heat.
Serve hot or keep in the fridge and serve chilled. Both taste yummy.
Use fried (in ghee) cashews for topping while serving.

Badam kheer

Happy Ugadi, Tamil New year and Vishu to all!! Celebrate this festival season with Badam kheer. A rich creamy kheer garnished with cashew and raisin.

Ingredients:

Milk – ½ litter
Sugar – 7 to 9tbsp
Badam – 10 numbers
Cashew – 6 to 7 numbers
Pinch of cardamom powder

For garnishing:

5 to 6 cashews fried in 1tsp ghee.
5 5ot 6 raisin fried in ghee.

Method:

Soak badam and cashew for 1hour in water.
Peel off the badam skin. Ground badam and cashew to coarse paste and keep aside.
Add the milk to a saucepan or a heavy bottom pan.
Boil them till they reach the semi thick consistency, let say 15 to 20min.
Add sugar and keep on string the milk to avoid overflow.
Now add the grounded paste. Let them boil for another 5min.
Add pinch of cardamom powder before removing from the stove.
Refrigerate and serve chill, garnishing with fried cashew and raisin.

Note: Keep some boiled milk handy to add while serving, if the kheer becomes thick.

Aval/ Poha Payasam

Payasam or kheer is made on special days like festivals or on some special occasions.This aval payasam takes less time to prepare and tastes so good .

Ingredients:

Aval - 1/2 cup

Boiled milk - 3 cup

Sugar -3/4 cup

Water- 1 1/2cup

Pinch of cardamom powder

Cashew nuts- 4 to 5 broken into pieces

Dry grapes - 1tsp

Ghee - 1tbsp

Method:

Fry the broken cashew and dry grapes in ghee and keep aside

Add aval to the pan and fry for few seconds in ghee and keep aside

Boil water and add aval to it

Stir for few minutes till the aval get soft

Now add the boiled milk and sugar

Let the kheer sit on the stove in low flame till they reach their consistency (probably 10 to 15min)

Keep stirring to avoid overflow of milk

Add the cardamom powder and switch off the stove

Add the cashew and dry grapes and its ready to serve!!!

Note: the consistency should not be too thick or watery, add boiled milk if it’s too thick