6 easy kheer | payasam recipes for Diwali 2013

Here are some of the easy kheer | payasam | payasa recipes that can be prepared for the coming Diwali Festival. Have a fun filled & a safe Diwali.

Click on the image for the recipe.

  
Appi Payasa                                 Paal Payasam | Rice pudding
       


Sabudana Kheer                                       Akki-kadlebele payasam
       
Banana Payasa/Rasayana                 Vermicelli Kheer

Vermicelli Sabudana Kheer | Seeme akki Payasa | Sago Payasam : Tapioca Pudding Recipe

Have no time for cooking ahead this Diwali? Then, you can try making some simple kheer | payasam like this one. This kheer doesn't need any fancy ingredient & can be cooked in about 30 mins max.

Here goes the recipe.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Soaking Time: About an hour.

Ingredients:
Sago | Sabudana | Seeme akki : 1/3 cup
Vermicelli | shavige : 2 tbsp
Milk: 2.5 cups, more or less
Water: 1 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder: 1/4 tsp
Clarified butter/ghee: 1 tbsp
Raisins: 1 tsp
Broken cashews: 2 tsp
Slivered almonds: 1 tsp

Method: 
Wash the sago thoroughly in running water. I recommend washing it at least 3 times until the starch is removed.
Soak the sago in enough water for 20 mins. Then drain the water completely from the sago.
Sprinkle 2-3 tsp of water over the drained sago & keep it covered for a minimum of 45 mins to an hour.

Add the soaked sago to a sauce pan. Add water + 1 cup of milk to the sabudana.
Cook the sago on a medium heat (stirring in between) until they become transparent & soft. Takes about 10-13 mins.
Meantime, heat ghee in a small wok. When oil is hot, throw in the cashew nuts & almonds. When the nuts turn golden, add in the raisins. When raisins plump up, put the vermicelli to the ghee & saute till the vermicelli turn golden. This will not take more than 3-4 mins.

Add the vermicelli + nuts mixture, remaining milk, cardamom powder to the cooked sago mixture & mix. Boil this mixture on a medium heat until the vermicelli is cooked.
Add the sugar & boil it for a couple of minutes more.Keep stirring in between.
Remove the sauce pan from the heat.
Let the kheer rest for 5-10 mins. Serve this kheer warm or cold.

Notes:

1. Rinsing the sago thoroughly in water removes the excessive starch. Too much starch will make the sago sticky & slimy. We want the sago pearls to be separate. 
2. This kheer thickens as it gets cools. If it gets too thick & hard, add a cup of hot milk with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Mix it & serve immediately. 
3. We prefer our kheer warm, hence I do not refrigerate it. If you want to serve it chilled as a pudding, reduce the sugar to 1/4 or 1/3 cup (as per you choice). We like our kheer more on the sweet side! 

Appi Payasa | Fried cream of wheat kheer

I have some distinct memories associated with some dishes. From the time I can remember, I always fascinated cooking but never took the initiation to cook, until I had no other choice! During my teenage days, whenever I got a chance to attend the weddings, upanayanam or any family functions, I used to venture into the kitchen. I used to talk to the cook & get to know the recipe of a dish with a fancy name!! I have been doing this till date. The only difference is, now I try to write down the recipe.

Appi payasa/payasam is one such dish learnt during a conversation with one of the cooks. Here is how "appi payasa" is made. A tight dough is made with cream of wheat. They are rolled & deep fried in ghee like pooris(Deep fried Indian bread). These pooris are crushed & added to the milk.

Though I don't have a sweet tooth, this is one of the kheer/payasam to which I can never say "no". Absolute delish!! It is also known as happala karda payasa (Thanks to blogger world!).

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)
For the happala/flat poori:

• Cream of wheat/Chiroti Rava/Fine rava: 1 cup
• Cold water: Less than 1/4th cup
• Ghee/Clarified butter: 2 tsp
• Salt: a small pinch
• Ghee/Oil: As needed, for deep frying the pooris

For the payasa/kheer:

• Full cream milk: 1.5 litres
• Sugar: Around 3/4th cup, adjust according to your family needs
• Chopped dry fruits: 2 tbsp (I used almonds, cashews & pistachios)
• Saffron: a big pinch

Method:
Mix the cream of wheat, salt & ghee together.
Slowly add the cold water & make a stiff dough. Cover the dough & let it rest for at least a couple of hours. More the better...
Once the dough is well rested, divide the dough into big grape sized balls. I got 7 dough balls.
Dust a very little flour & roll it thin using a rolling pin. (just like a poori). 
Heat the ghee/oil on a medium heat. When ghee is hot, deep fry the pooris on both the sides until golden brown. Remove it on a paper towel to remove the excess ghee from the fried pooris. Repeat with the remaining pooris. Let it cool.

Meantime, boil the milk on a med-high heat. Keep stirring in between. When the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat.
Add sugar & allow the sugar to dissolve. 
When the sugar is dissolved, crush the saffron in between your palm & add it to the milk. 
Crush or roughly tear the cooled pooris & slide them onto the boiling milk. Add the chopped nuts.

Turn off the heat & let the payasam cool completely.
Once cool, mash the crushed pooris gently. 

You could serve this payasam, warm or cold. 
I generally warm it again & serve as my family prefers it that way!

Notes:

• It is very important to make a stiff dough to ensure crunchy pooris. Soft dough will absorb more ghee & become soggy.
• The more you rest the dough, the more elastic it becomes. It will be easier to handle a well rested dough. (You can see little cracks on the edges of my poori. That is because I did not rest the dough! Do not do that)
• Roll the pooris very thin. Thin pooris wont puff up & become soft. They will become crunchy!
• If your poori is still puffing up, gently prick it in 4-5 places with a tooth pick before frying them.
• This is unlike other kheer that demands milk quantity to be reduced by boiling. The crushed pooris will absorb the milk & the kheer/payasam thickens gradually. 

Paal payasam/Milk & Rice pudding

Indian festivals become incomplete without a dessert or a sweet dish. Any household would cook a wide range of sweets without bothering how much taxing it could be. A very simple yet exorbitant kheer is one of them for sure. So, here I present today a time consuming but not so taxing kheer/payasam/pudding recipe that is loved by one & all!

Recipe Source: thechefandherkitchen

Ingredients:
Sona masoori rice: 1/2 cup (Any other medium grain rice like ponni rice, raw rice would do)
Full cream fresh milk: 5 cups
Sugar:  1/3rd cup
Saffron: a pinch
Cardamom powder: 1/4th tsp
Chopped nuts: 1.5 tbsp (I used sliced almonds, chopped pistachios & raisins)

Method:

• Wash the rice thoroughly & soak them in water for 10-15mins.
• Meantime, heat milk in a thick bottomed vessel.
• Crush the safrron between your palms & add the saffron to the milk.
• When milk becomes hot, drain the water from the soaked rice & add the rice & raisins to the milk. Preserve the other nuts for later use. Stir well.
• Cook the rice in milk on a medium heat. Keep stirring once a while to ensure that rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel.
• When rice is cooked (takes around 30-35mins), add the sugar, cardamom powder & reduce the heat.
• Cook on a low heat for another 5-7mins.
• Turn off the heat, garnish with the chopped nuts.
• Serve them hot, warm or cold.

Notes:
The payasam becomes a bit thick after it is cooled down. If you prefer it more on the kheer types, add few tablespoons of hot milk to your serving & heat for couple of minutes in the stove or microwave & then enjoy!

I'm sending this recipe to the event "Tried and tested" hosted by me & to the event creator Lakshmi.
I'm waiting for your entries now :)

Update: I'm also sending this to Priya's "Celebrate Sweets-Sweets with rice" event & to the creator Nivedita.

Paradi Payasa (Paradi Kheer)

Thought of doing some sweet taking a break from raw jackfruit dishes. Wanted to prepare something unusual & tastier. What else could I think of, especially during Deepavali festival. Paradi payasa is a special kind of kheer prepared with rice.

My mother-in-law prepares this every year on the Lakshmi Pooja day ( Amavasye, the day after Naraka Chaturdashi). The procedure to prepare this is a little complicated, but I prepare a simpler & yet a tastier version :))

This is also served as prasadam in many south canara temples. Again a authentic south canara recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup thick coconut milk
1.5 cups jaggery/bella
1.5 cups very thin coconut milk or even normal water would do.
1 cup rice flour.
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup water.
1 pinch cardamom/yelakki powder
1 tsp raisins/ona drakshi
1 tsp cashewnuts/kaaju/godambi
1.5 tsp ghee/clarified butter/tuppa

Method:

• Mix the jaggery & thin coconut milk (normal water) & bring it to a boil.
• Meanwhile, mix the rice flour, a pinch of salt & the 1/2 cup water & prepare a batter similar to a dosa batter.
• When the jaggery & thin coconut milk starts to boil, add this rice flour to the jaggery water. But, the procedure to add the paste is quite different. Have a look at the below picture to understand how to add the batter. Take a grater (the one using which we grate carrots), turn it upside down. Pour the batter on it & ensure the batter fall through the eyes of the grater (This will form small rice like lumps & these should directly fall on the boiling jaggery water).

• Cook this for 2-3 minutes.
  
• Add the thick coconut milk & cardamom to it.
• Allow it to boil
• In a separate pan, heat ghee. When ghee is hot, add raisins, cashew nuts.
• Add this cashew nuts, raisins to the payasa prepared.
• Serve hot.

PS: If you use black jaggery the payasa becomes brownish in color. You can use black or normal jaggery.

Here is a bowl of paradi payasa to you. Also, have a wonderful & a memorable Deepavali celebrations.

I'm sending this payasa to Festival Jihva at Cooking 4 all seasons, "Festive Food-Diwali Celebration" at Indian Khanna, "FIC-Brown" at Tongue Tickelers