Parippu Payasam for Sadhya

This has been one of those weeks when my determination and will power has been questioned. Having made the decision to post continuously for 5 days a week, I had to fight past all sorts of temptations. But the satisfaction or a feeling of achievement that you get after sticking firm to a resolution(achieving a goal) cant be expressed. Keeping that in sight, I hope to adhere to the resolution as much as I can. Today I am posting the recipe for Parippu Payasam or Parippu Pradhaman or Dal Payasam or Lentil Payasam. 

You may ask why a Payasam today of all sorts. I have been meaning to post this recipe for Vishu. But somehow it didnt work out. Happened to notice this morning that the expiry date for my coconut milk packet is next week. Need to use it before then. Also one of my neighbours gave me Aval payasam for one of their festival last week and I definitely cannot return her utensil without giving back anything!! Hence decided that Parippu Payasam makes an easy and good choice :) 
For our Sadhya (feast), we serve mostly 3 types of Payasams. Parippu Payasam is very common among them.

Parippu Payasam:

Ingredients:

1 cup split Moong Dal
Water
Jaggery 
1.5 cups Thin Coconut Milk (Randam Pal in Malayalam)
3/4 cup Thick Coconut Milk (Onnam Pal in Malayalam)
Ghee
Cashews
1 Tbsp Elaichi powder ( Cardamom Powder)
A pinch of a mixture of Cumin (Jeera) powder and Dry ginger (Chukku) powder - Optional
Thenga Kothu ( sliced dry coconut pieces)

Prepping:

Step 1: 

Dry roast the Moong dal till a nice aroma comes for around 3 - 5 min. Make sure that the dal is not burnt. 

Step 2: 

Melt jaggery in a pan with little water. Now the quantity of jaggery used should be double the quantity of Moong Dal. 

Strain the melted jaggery through a filter and keep aside. 

Step 3:

Add ghee to a pan. Once hot, add Thenga kothu or sliced coconut slices in ghee for 2 min. Then add the cashews also and roast till they start browning. 

Method of Preparing:

Step 1:

Usually we prepare payasam in Uruli ( Traditional cooking vessel for making Payasams in Kerala) and boil the moong dal in Uruli itself. But since I dont have uruli with me and also to save some time, I pressure cooked the Moong Dal for around 3 whistles.

Step 2:

Add the strained melted jaggery to the cooked dal. After around 3 min, add 2 Tbsp Ghee. Cook till the jaggery - moong dal mixture becomes thick. 

Step 3:

Now add the thin coconut milk (Randam Pal) and let it boil. 

Step 4:

After 5 min, mix elaichi, dry ginger powder and cumin powder and add to the payasam. Mix well. 

Step 5:

Once the thin milk is boiled and almost evaporated completely (atleast more than half of the thin milk should be evaporated and the mixture should become thick) , then add the thick coconut milk. Do not stir for 2 min. Add the roasted cashews - thenga kothu(sliced coconut slices) and mix and switch off. 

Serve hot or chilled as per your preference. 

Note: 

When my mom prepares Parippu Payasam, she usually prepares the coconut milk at home. For preparing the coconut milk at home, grate coconut and then add water to it. Mix well and squeeze out the milk. The first milk taken like that will be very thick and is called Onnam Pal or first milk. Then again squeezing out, we get the thin coconut milk known as Randam Pal or second  milk. 

If you are using store brought Coconut Milk, dilute it with water to make thin coconut milk and use it as such for thick coconut milk. 

I didnt have any coconut slices with me. So I didnt add any. But please note that adding coconut slices brings out the authentic taste of Payasam. 

In the pictures that I posted the payasam appears very smooth. How ever underneath the smoothness, if we stir, we can see the grainy texture of the Dal and thats what is the proper payasam. I kept the payasam a little watery as I was making it for a lot of people. 

We can roast the raisins and add them to the Payasam as well. I didnt have any raisins with me, so skipped adding them. 

Sending the recipe to MLLA 58, an event started by Susan and now taken over by Lisa. The event is hosted this month by Chez Cavenne.

Sending the recipe to "Spotlight - Show your best creation" event hosted by Chandrani and started by Indrani.

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



Sending the recipe to the event "Mission Explore: Lentils", a brain child of Sheelu and Pallavi. For June, the event is hosted by my favorite blogger Rafeeda of the blog "The big Sweet tooth".