Palada Pradhaman

Around 3 months before, I got a packet of ready made Adas during our regular trip of grocery shopping. Thought that I will make the Ada payasam either the Palada (One using Milk) or Ada Pradhaman ( Made using jaggery and coconut milk) for some occasion. How ever that never happened. Now that Vishu is approaching, I started thinking about which payasam I should make for the day and then I thought about the so far forgotten pack of Adas. As a trial for Vishu, I prepared Palada Pradhaman using a quarter of the Adas and it turned out great. To tell the truth, this is my third attempt in making Palada. I think it turned out well today to my satisfaction.  





My first two attempts in making Palada Payasam were a flop according to me. The payasam was sweet enough for people to savor it. but it did not have the same taste as the ones served in Sadhyas. I remember sitting on a small stool in the kitchen, stirring the payasam every 2 - 3 min, chatting with my room mates who were eagerly waiting to try a new payasam.  That was the first time I was making the payasam using the ready made Adas. I was not sure how to make them, decided in mind it should be similar to the rice payasam and semia payasam and started making the way they were made. We were all in the kitchen for more than 2hrs taking turns to stir while a delicious smell floated around the whole house. In between power went and came back. but still we didnt stop stirring and finally after  2hrs I decided enough was enough and switched off and served every one the payasam. I wonder how this memory came to my mind all of a sudden. It is not one that I remember fondly every now and then. But I guess each dish made has its own memories attached with it and while sitting to write them out, it emerges from our sub conscious.

Palada Payasam is both mine and my husband's favorite. It was the payasam served during my marriage also. I made this payasam today for several reasons. One was a trial for vishu, other was that I was planning to give some sweet to our neighbours. Another was a sort of thank you present to my hubby who took care of me for the past few days cooking full time as I was sick. I guess I added more sugar to the payasam for the same reason or love :) Plan went perfect.  I guess what I had not counted on was my hubby telling me after we sent the payasam to my neighbours that they dont prefer this much sweet. That was the only draw back to my perfect cooking plan!! Have you guys faced such a scenario? Cooking for guests finding that they dont prefer what you cooked but ate everything being polite!! Well, this did take much of the excitement out of me. but I thought I might as well blog my recipe out as it came out well.. 

As mentioned, I made this payasam using ready made Adas. But went for the traditional method which takes a looong time to cook.. I will try pressure cooking  the payasam and will blog later. It took me around 2hrs to make the payasam and since I wasnt planning on blogging the recipe, i didnt take the step by step pics. I enjoyed making this payasam. I took a chair to the kitchen, sat and read a book while stirring the payasam and had a pleasurable afternoon filled with the joy of making a dish that came out well at the end. So if you have time or want to taste absolutely delightful payasam the traditional way, go for this recipe. Otherwise use condensed milk and speed up the process. 

Palada Payasam:

Ingredients:

1 litre Milk
1 cup Ready made Ada
Water 
1 and a quarter cup Sugar ( I used 1.5 cup and it was very sweet) 
2 pinches of Elaichi powder

Prepping:

Step 1: Boil water in a pan. Once the water boils, add ada to it. In around 10 min, the ada will become soft. Switch off and let it cool. Once cooled, wash the ada thoroughly and let  it rest in regular water till it is used in payasam. 

Method of Preparing:

Step 1: 

In a thick bottomed wide pan ( We use a vessel called uruli traditionally for making payasam. But any thick bottomed wide pan will do), add 2 cups of water and let it boil. Then add milk to it and let the milk boil.

Step 2:

Do stir in between to prevent milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the milk boils, add sugar. 

Step 3:

Reduce the flame to medium and let the milk cook. Keep stirring in between. 

Step 4:

When the milk starts turning pale pink in colour, add the Adas. Continue stirring. It took me around 30 - 45 min on medium flame for the milk to start turning color. 

Step 5:

Let the Ada cook in milk. Now the milk starts becoming heavy in around 20 min. The ideal time to turn off the payasam is when a line is made on the ladle used for stirring, the line should stay as such. Or if a drop of payasam is dropped on the flat surface, it should stay as such. In other words, the payasam should not be too runny. Switch off and add 2 pinches of elaichi powder and close and keep for around 10 - 15 min. Adding the elaichi at the end, enhances the flavor of the payasam. When the payasam cools down, it becomes very thick. So better to switch off when the payasam starts getting thick. 

Now, if by chance when you open the payasam after some time and if you find that the payasam is too thick to your liking, you can add some more milk and let it boil to your desired consistency. 

Serve the delicious payasam hot or cold as per your liking. I prefer to have mine along with Boli, another Kerala specialty served usually in Sadhyas. 

Sending the recipe to the event "Authentic Indian Sweets with giveway" at Nivedhanam.