Indira’s Chanadaal, Vermicelli Sabudana Kheer/Payasam

Come to think of it, I should have started my first post for the New Year with a recipe for something sweet. After all it is customary isn’t it? I followed this protocol the previous 2 years, but then this year I strayed away and started off with this, something savory, sinful yet delicious. So am I trying to be different this year and break some grounds? Nah, the pictures for the payasam were not ready on time and hence I could not make this the first post to kick start the New Year.

The source of this recipe is Indira’s Chana Dal Payasam. I love this recipe for its simplicity and ease of preparation. But don’t be tricked, the taste is just delicious and divine. Another factor that interested me is that this payasam does not use coconut at all. Prior to this I had not seen traditional payasams made without the coconut. The addition of sago and vermicelli gives it the carbs and the thickness. I prepare this payasam when I am low on coconut or not in mood for grinding the coconut for the regular Chana Daal Kheer. Also as a bonus the addition of Chana daal gives me feeling that I am eating something healthy. Thanks Indira for sharing this wonderful recipe.

I have made some small changes to the recipe, but mostly stuck to the original one. I like my payasam consistency to be thick and creamy. But if you prefer it thinner then feel free to add more liquid.

On an ending note, I am not very thrilled with the pictures. The tube light in the room in which I take pictures went kaput. So I took the pictures with what ever options I had. Much to my dismay the white counter tops appear grey mostly because of the absence of bright light.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup chana daal/ Bengal gram daal (soaked in water for 4-5 hours)
• ¼ cup vermicelli
• ¼ cup sago/sabudana (soak for 1 hour)
• Milk (preferable 2% or even more)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• ½ cup jaggery (powdered, preferable light colored)
• 2 tsp ghee
• ½ tsp Cardamom powder
• 5-10 cashew pieces
• 10-15 raisins

Recipe Source: Indira’s Chana Dal Payasam

Method:

• This is the most important part. Pressure cook the soaked chana daal along with ½ cup water and ½ cup milk.
• Make sure the chana daal does not over cook and become a paste. But on the same note, make sure it is cooked and does not have a bite to it. The cooked daal should melt in your mouth. It is good if the daal disintegrates a bit, as it blends well with milk and jaggery. Otherwise the taste of milk and jaggery is overpowering.
• Take another pan, heat some ghee and lightly roast the vermicelli.
• Take a heavy bottom pan, pour the milk, water in the pan and bring to boil. Add the jaggery and let it blend well.
• Reduce the flame and then add cooked chana daal, soaked sabudana, vermicelli, sugar, and let this simmer for about 20 minutes ( or until it thickens up a little).
• Stir this whole thing in between, so that it does not settle at the bottom.
• Meanwhile separately heat the ghee(please do not substitute with oil) in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and fry cashews till golden brown, next add raisins and fry until they plump up. Keep them aside.
• Remove from flame and then add cardamom, cashews and raisins. Cool to room temperature. Note that after it is cooled the entire thing will thicken a lot.
  

Rice Kheer (Pudding/ Payasam)

Dear Friends,

Wishing you all and your loved ones a very Happy Diwali.

Hope you are all having a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating Diwali.

Deepavali called Festival of Lights has had been my favorite festival while growing up in India. The excitement would begin even before the festival actually started. As compared to the other festivals this had fun, excitement right from the get go. First off we get the much needed holidays from school/college, then we get to wear new clothes, indulge on varieties of goodies, light up fire crackers, light some beautiful diyas(lamps), meet with friends relatives, chit chat etc. So it was just non-stop excitement not just for 1 day but for many days after, even extending to a week.

That was then. But now physically being 10,000 miles away from home things are totally different. Being in a society with different culture and traditions it is hard to feel the same joy and excitement. Apart from occasional email from friends or phone calls from relatives the euphoria is missing. The hectic work schedule, the long commute and the daily grind does not help either. Also the thought that we are so far away from our parents and loved ones changes the mood to gloomy and somber.

That is one dispiriting thought process running in the background. Yet another bright and lively thought process focuses on the little one and spouse reminding of our responsibility towards them. One of our responsibilities as parents is keeping our traditions alive and passing it on to our children in our own way. What better way of keeping it alive than actually celebrating the festival and passing the joy and sentiment that we grew up with to our next generation?

Rice Kheer is a classic and traditional Indian dessert/ pudding, made during festivals and special occasions. Rice is cooked along with milk, sugar, cardamom and finally garnished with nuts and raisins. Simple to make yet divine in taste.

This is my contribution to JFI-Sweets hosted by Srivalli of Cooking for all Seasons.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cooked basmati rice
• 3 cups milk (low fat)
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• Raisin, cashews
• Saffron few strands
• 1 tsp Orange rind for garnishing (optional)
• (Note: make sure that the rind does not have the white part of the orange as that is bitter)
• Oil/ghee

Method:

• Boil the milk and water in a big heavy bottom pan, then add the sugar and continue to boil.
• Add the cooked rice, saffron strands and mix thoroughly at intervals. Make sure that the rice does not get stuck to the bottom.
• Add the condensed milk and then continue to stir on medium flame.
• Please note that even though at the beginning the quantity of liquid seems to be more than the rice, stirring for a long time reduces the quantity and the rice soaks the liquid and plumps up to a creamy consistency. This takes about 35-40 minutes.
• Add the cardamom powder when the mixture has thickened considerably but still warm.
• Heat some ghee/oil in a small pan on medium flame and roast the raisins and cashews. Add this to the mixture.

• This can be served warm or chilled. Garnish with orange rind before serving (optional).

Sabudana Vermicelli Kheer/Shavige Payasa

An easy, yummy and guilt free dessert which can brighten up a dull day!

• 3/4 cup roasted Vermicelli
• 1/4 cup sago/sabudana
• 3 cups milk (2%)
• ½ cup fat free condensed milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ghee
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
• 5-10 cashew pieces
• 10-15 raisins

Preparation:

v Soak the Sago/sabudana in enough water for about 3 hours.

Method:

v Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and fry cashews till golden brown, next add raisins and fry until they plump up. Keep them aside.

v Fry the roasted vermicelli for a little while, making sure that it does not burn up. Keep aside.

v Pour the milk in the same pan bring to boil.

v Reduce the flame and then add roasted vermicelli, soaked sabudana, sugar, condensed milk and let this simmer for about 20 minutes ( or until it thickens up a little). Stir this whole thing in between, so that it does not settle at the bottom.

(Adding too much condensed milk will make it overtly sweet)

v Remove from flame and then add cardamom, cashews and raisins. Cool to room temperature. Note that after it is cooled the entire thing will thicken a lot.

v This can also be served cold by keeping it in the refrigerator.

Tabouli Wheat Pudding/(Dalia kheer, Broken Wheat Payasam)

Last weekend one of the items on my to-do list was cleaning up of the pantry. So I ransacked the pantry pulled out stuff one by one and tried different ways to re-use them albeit a healthy, creative way. One among them was a packet of Tabouli wheat.

We have always loved Tabouli salad and this time I wanted to try something different. Since I did not know a whole lot about Tabouli wheat, I decided to consult my Know-It-All friend about Tabouli. Viola! I found that it is nothing but cracked Bulgur wheat and the first thing that popped into my head was cracked wheat kheer as this was one of my favorite desserts growing up. This Kheer is also called as Lapsi.

Ingredients

• ½ cup Tabouli wheat (Dalia/ Broken Wheat)
• 4 cups milk (1%)
• Jaggery/sugar as per taste
• 2 tsp ghee
• Cardamom powder ½ tsp
• Shredded coconut ½ cup
• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 5-10 cashew pieces
• 10-15 raisins

Preparation:

• Soak the tabouli wheat in enough water for about 3 hours.
• Just before use, drain the water completely.
• Grind the coconut and poppy seeds together and make a fine paste.

Method:

• Heat the ghee in a pan over medium heat and fry cashews till golden brown, next add raisins and fry until they plump up. Keep them aside.
• Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed bottom pan and bring it to boil.
• Reduce the flame and then add soaked tabouli, jaggery, ground coconut paste and let this simmer for about 20 minutes or so until it thickens up a little. Stir this mixture in between, so that it does not settle at the bottom.
• Remove from flame and then add cardamom, cashews and raisins. Cool to room temperature. Note that after it is cooled the entire thing will thicken a lot.
• This can also be served cold by keeping it in the refrigerator.
  

Bottle Gourd Pudding/ Lauki Kheer/ Gardudde Paays

The weather here in our part of the woods has taken a major turn. From scorching heat 2-3 weeks ago, we are now experiencing rains through out the day. The weather has cooled down quite a bit now and the plants in our yard are getting their good share of water. The rains during the weekend and the gloomy outcast prompted us to stay back at home more than we usually do. No complaints about that as I got to do some experimenting in the kitchen with some new recipes and also got to watch the US Open.

Few days ago, dear friend Upsi got us some Bottle gourd right out of her garden. Now this is one vegetable that we do not use frequently in our kitchen, maybe occasionally in sambhar, but other than that I did not use it much in my cooking.

Thanks to the rains I had the bandwidth to try out new things. After much thought I decided to make this Bottle gourd Kheer/ Dudhi Kheer/ Gardudde Paays that my mom used to make often when we were kids. I used to like it much better than the Shevai Kheer and my mom used to make it as a treat for me.

Based on some information gathering over the internet, I found that Bottle gourd is called as gardudde(Konkani), lauki(Hindi).Sorekayi (Kannada). Growing up I used to have lots of confusion about different vegetables, beans and lentils. Not the regular or the frequently used ones, but the ones that were used occasionally like Bottle Gourd, Ridge Gourd etc. I would refer to some in Konkani, some in Marathi, some in Kannada and the rest in English. ? Now that I write a recipe blog, I hope I have the information right!

Note: The quantity of Chana Daal/Bengal gram can be increased as per taste. Some people like daal in their payasam while other’s do not. Make sure the chana daal is not over cooked. It needs to have a bite to it.
The Sabudana can be substituted with Roasted fine Rava/Sooji. It is added to give some thickness to the Kheer. Adding saffron strands is optional; the original Kheer that my mom used to make did not have kesar in it. I added it for some flavor and color. So please feel free to skip it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated bottle gourd/lauki
• ½ cup chana daal/ Bengal gram daal (soaked in water for 4-5 hours)
• ¼ cup sago/sabudana (soak for 1 hour)
• 5 cups milk (1% or 2%/ Whole milk is fine too)
• water (depends on how thick you prefer the kheer to be) I used 2 small cups of water.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• ½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
• 2 tsp ghee
• ½ tsp Cardamom powder
• 5-10 cashew pieces
• 10-15 raisins
• Kesar/saffron few strands (optional)

Preparation:

• Peel the bottle gourd and grate it. Pressure cook the grated gourd along with the soaked chana daal. Make sure the chana daal does not over cook.
• Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and fry cashews till golden brown, next add raisins and fry until they plump up. Keep them aside.
• Make a fine paste of coconut along with little water. This is optional. Sabudana gives enough thickness to this kheer.

Method:

• Please read the Note above before you proceed.
• Take a heavy bottom pan, pour the milk, water in the pan and bring to boil.
• Reduce the flame and then add cooked chana daal, bottle gourd, soaked sabudana, sugar, saffron strands and fine coconut paste and let this simmer for about 20 minutes ( or until it thickens up a little).
• Stir this whole thing in between, so that it does not settle at the bottom.
• Remove from flame and then add cardamom, cashews and raisins. Cool to room temperature. Note that after it is cooled the entire thing will thicken a lot.
• This can also be served cold by keeping it in the refrigerator.

Indian Kheer ( Kadlebele Payasam/ Madgane)

I have had this post sitting in my draft for a long time now. I made this Kheer/Payasam a long time ago during Ugadi, but somehow never got around posting it.

We love this traditional kheer (dessert) at home. It is called as “Madgane” in Konkani and as “Kadlebele Payasa” in Kannada. This does not use any milk/dairy and is usually prepared during major festivals, weddings, New Year etc. Traditionally this is served on a banana leaf along with the other goodies. It is thicker than the usual Kheer and savored in small quantities. I don’t remember eating this in bowlfuls.

Here the Chana Daal is cooked either in a pressure cooker or on the stove top. The magic sets right in when coconut is mixed along with jaggery, cardamom powder and added to the cooked Chana Daal.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bengal Gram Daal/ chana daal (soak it over night)
• 2 tsp rice
• ¾ cup shredded coconut or thick coconut milk
• About 1 cup Jaggery/Gur (crushed)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• Ghee/oil
• Raisins and Cashew pieces

Method:

• Pressure cook/ or cook the Chana Daal on stove top in sufficient amount of water. Make sure that the lentil is cooked and has a bite left to it.
• Grind the shredded coconut along with the soaked rice, water and make a thin paste.
• In a vessel add little water and add the crushed jaggery, the cooked chana daal along with the water and allow to boil. Once it has mixed well, add the coconut paste and boil again until it thickens.
• Meanwhile heat some oil/ghee and lightly brown up raisins and cashew pieces.
• After the coconut chana daal paste cools a little bit, add the cardamom powder and then the roasted raisin, cashew pieces.

Oats Vermicelli Pudding/ Oats Semiya Payasam

We love all sorts of Kheer at home, but love Semiya/Vermicelli kheer the best. I make simple vermicelli Kheer as is or in combination with Saboodana. A good friend of mine had tried my Mango Oats Kheer and liked the idea. She suggested adding Oats to the regular Vermicelli Kheer and I loved the idea.

I tried the kheer a few days ago and we loved the taste. The taste is no different than a regular Semiyan Kheer. However addition of Oats makes it thick and sticky. Nevertheless it is easy and healthy too.

Ingredients

• ½ cup roasted Vermicelli
• ½ cup roasted oats ( I used the rolled oats) ( the old fashioned one’s, not the quick cooking ones)
• 6 cups milk (2%)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
• ½ tsp Cardamom powder
• 5-10 cashew pieces/ almond
• 10-15 raisins

(Even though Oats is not visibile here, trust me there is oats in this Kheer )

Method:

• Heat little ghee in a pan and fry the roasted vermicelli for a little while, making sure that it does not burn up. Keep aside.
• In the same pan roast the oats until it is slightly brown and toasty. Keep aside.
• Pour the milk in the same pan and bring to boil stirring in between.
• Reduce the flame and then add roasted vermicelli, oats, sugar and let this simmer for about 20 minutes (or until it thickens up a little).
• Stir this in between, so that it does not settle at the bottom. Remove from flame.
• In the meanwhile heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and fry cashews/almonds pieces till golden brown, next add raisins and fry until they plump up.
• Now add cardamom powder, cashews and raisins to the Kheer and mix well. Cool to room temperature.
• Note that after it is cooled the vermicelli will plump and Kheer/payasam will thicken.
• This can also be served cold by keeping it in the refrigerator.