Carrot Semiya Payasam/Carrot Semiya Kheer

Carrot Semiya Payasam/Kheer is a very ezee and delicious Payasam which can be whipped up in very less time and tastes utterly delicious. As many of you might know my son loveeee Payasam/Kheer and always prefer white payasam(Milk based) over Brown ones(Jaggery-Coconut milk based). This payasam is one of his favorite and he just relishess this given at any point of time. We did not have much Onam celebrations at home this time, but I made this payasam for kids. So here comes an ezee, breezy payasam/kheer which can prepared at home whenever unexpected guests shows up or for any ceremomys or just as a dessert. Hmm, do you really need any reason to make this delicious payasam??? So make this home and relish with your loved ones !!!!

Ingredients:-

1. Grated Carrot - 3 Nos(~1 Cup)
2. Roasted Semiya/Vermicelli - 1 Cup
3. Ghee - 2 tsp
4. Thick Milk - 5 Cups(Full fat or 2%)
5. Water - 2 Cups
6. Sugar  ~ 1 Cup(Add more according to your tolerant level)
7. Cashews/Raisins a handful
8. Freshly Ground Cardamom - From 4

Preparation Method:-

• If using unroasted Semiya/Vermicelli, dry roast it well till golden brown and set aside.
• Heat up a wide pan, add ghee. Roast the Cashews till light brown and move to a bowl. Add Raisins and saute till they puff up, remove from the pan to a bowl.
• Now add the grated carrot to the same ghee and saute for about five-seven minutes till they change the color to deep orange and become soft. Move the carrot to another bowl and reserve.
• Add 2 Cups Milk + 2 Cups Water to the same pan and let it boil. Add the roasted Semiya/Vermicelli and let it cook in medium heat till it become soft.
• Add Sugar + 2 More Cups of Milk and let it cook again for another five minutes till the sugar is blended well and milk is reduced.
• Spread the sauteed carrot and gently stir to blend with Semiya. Add 1 More Cup of milk and let it boil for another five minutes till the payasam/kheer is creamy.
• Sprinkle the cardamom powder and mix gently. Let it reduce in low heat covered for another two minutes to infuse cardamom flavor.
• Switch off the stove and add ghee roasted cashews and raisins.
• Move to serving bowls and serve warm or cold.

Linking this to Favorite Recipe Event : Kheer/Payasam started by Swathi hosted at Rafeeda's The Big Sweet Tooth

ഗോതമ്പ് പായസം/Gothambu Payasam/Broken Wheat Payasam and Happy Vishu Wishes!!!

എന്നുമെന്നും ഐശ്വര്യവും സമ്പദ് സമൃദ്ധിയും നിറഞ്ഞതാവട്ടെ. എല്ലാവർക്കും വിഷു ആശംസകൾ!!!!

Wishing everyone a Very Happy Vishu!!!!

Ingredients:-

1. Broken wheat/nurukku gothambu - ½ cup
2. Jaggery cubes - 10 pieces(or according to your sweet tolerence) 
3. Coconut milk thin- 1 ½ cup
4. Coconut milk thick - ½cup
5. Cardamon pods - 4 
6. Sugar - 1 tsp
7. Cashew & Raisins a handful
8. Coconut pieces - 2 tbsp(chopped into med size pieces)
9. Ghee- 2 tbsp
10. Water - 1½ + more if required 

Preparation Method:-

• Wash broken wheat two-three times. Pressure cook them by adding four cups of water for two whistles.
• Open the cooker after the pressure leaves, drain off the water. Pour another two-three cups of water and drain again to remove excess starch.
• Boil 1½ cup of water, add Jaggery cubes and stir till they melt. Filter the jaggery syrup to remove any impurities.
• Pour this jaggery syrup to the cooked broken wheat and put on this stove. Let it boil on medium heat for five-seven minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Add in thin coconut milk and let it boil again for ten-twelve minutes or till jaggery combine well with broken wheat. Make sure to stir the payasam in between not to stick onto the bottom of the pan/cooker.
• Add in the thick coconut milk, let it boil again for another two-five minutes. If the payasam seems very thick, add some boiled water or little bit more thin coconut milk.
• Add cardamom pods and sugar to in the smallest mixer/grinder and grind/powder them. Add it to the payasam and stir well to mix. Take them off the stove. 
• Heat a small pan, pour ghee, saute the cashews till they turn the color, add to payasam. Add raisins to same ghee and saute till they pop up and add to the payasam. 
• Add Coconut pieces to the same ghee, add more ghee if needed and saute well till they turn light brown, pour over the payasam and stir well to mix. 
• The very delicious gothambu payasam is ready to serve. Enjoy with your family and friends!!!

Tips: 

1. Cooking with excess water and straining reduces the starch smell and reduces sticking to each other.

2. Grinding cardamom pods in a mixer help the cardamom to form a fine powder and imparts great smell and flavor

Carrot and Sago(sabudhana) Kheer/Carrot Sago Pudding

Its been long, yes to stay out of the blog for about two weeks is really too long I know. I didn't have any other option, the viral fever was terribly bad. Is it because of the drastic change in weather, early spring or should I say kind of early summer??? It took its own sweet time for my family to recover, started with my son taken over by my little one and then the hubby. The worst was my daughter's and my hubby condition, it took too long for my hubby to recover, he never had this bad viral, thankfully he is getting better and we're getting back to the normal routine :-) 

Before moving on to the recipe let me share with you all about what I won from my wonderful fellow blogger friends event and giveaways. One fine morning I woke up and found that I won Monica Bhide's cookbook 'Modern Spice' from Pari's Foodelicious on her 300th Post Giveaways. I was so thrilled and happy when I got to know about it. She has such a beautiful blog with more than 300 recipes and I admire her for the  consistency in blogging with each recipes better than the other. Thanks a lot Pari for choosing me as the winner, this is the first cookbook I ever won, rather the only cookbook I have(I never bought a cookbook till now)). And so sorry about posting about it so late, hope better late than never :-)

Awesome, right???

Its signed by Monica Bhide :-)  

Isn't it awesome to win two giveaways in a row in the same month, yes there is yet another giveaway win from Akheela's TorviewToronto on her Tea Time Event. I won this cute looking Libre Glass n Poly Tea by participating and linking in my Chicken Spring Rolls. Thanks a lot for choosing me as the winner and Thanks a ton for all the follow ups and extra effort you did till the Libre tea was shipped and it reached us :-)

Isn't that cute????

We go through different recipes daily from many sources and especially blog authors get to know lot of delicious and innovative recipes from their fellow bloggers as well other than from the cookery shows, cook books etc. Many time I decide to try out some of those wonderful recipes from my fellow bloggers when they post it but then I totally forget them as I always try to cook with the ingredients available in my pantry and I don't bother much to think what to make for the day. But this recipe of Radhika at Tickling Palates was in my mind from the time she posted it maybe because it was so unique or Is it because that was her guest post for Kavi's Cooking with Kin Series Event which gained my attention since I was also a part of the event with my Soy Granules Kheer.

Also I make kheer/payasam often since my son's request for them comes more often than any other desserts. This is the first recipe I tried from my fellow blogger friend, Thanks a lot Radhika for sharing this beautiful recipe with your friends and readers. It tasted just perfect and delicious, my family loved it - especially my son .Check out for the original recipe here as I have made slight variations that suits our taste buds.

Ingredients Used :-

1. Grated Carrot ~ 1 cup(I used 3 big carrots)
2. Sago/Sabudhana/Tapioca Pearls - 1/2 cup
3. Brown Sugar ~ 3/4 cup(you can add little more, I didn't make it very sweet)
4. Cashews, Raisins a handful
5. Milk ~ 3 cups
6. Cardamom - 3 pods
7. Ghee - 2 tsp
8. Water as needed

Preparation Method :- 

• Wash and soak the Sago/Sabudhana in water for 30-45 minutes. 
• Heat up a thick bottom vessel, pour the ghee. Add cashews and saute to golden brown, remove and keep aside. Reduce the heat to medium, add raisins and saute till they plump up, remove and set aside.
• Add the grated carrot to the same vessel saute for about three-five minutes till carrot absorbs the aroma of ghee.(I took out a spoon of carrot to garnish)
• Drain off the water from sago/sabudhana and add to the carrot and saute for a minute or two.
• Pour 1/2 cup of water and two cups of milk, stir well and let it boil. Simmer the heat to medium and let it cook till sago turns transparent.
• Pour rest of the milk, stir well and let it boil again and then cook till the kheer start to thicken for about five-seven minutes(Kheer thickens fast because of the sago). 
• Add the cardamom powder, stir well to mix. Switch off the stove.
• Garnish with ghee fried cashews, raisins, strips of grated carrot and serve warm or chilled. Enjoy!!!

Lauki Ke Kheer/Bottle guard Kheer

Lauki Kheer is very easy to make, delicious kheer/payasam relished by everyone including the kids. It needs just few ingredients and can be made in less than 30 minutes. Diabetic patients can us sugar substitute like splenda and have this delicious kheer. Give it a try and Enjoy healthy, yummy and ezee Kheer for all age groups. 

Ingredients: -

Bottle Gourd/Lauki/Doodhi - 1

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Milk - 5 cups

Cardamon powder - 1tsp

salt a pinch

Ghee - 2 tsp

Raisins few

Cashew few

Preparation Method: -

• Pour milk to aa thick bottom pan and bring to boil. Simmer the heat to medium and let the milk cook to reduce and get a thick consistency. Remember to stir the milk every two-three minutes so that they don't burn and stick at the bottom of the pan. 
• Meanwhile cut the edges of the bottle-gourd  and peel the skin. Cut it into half and scrap out the middle part of the Lauki.  Wash and clean the Lauki, grate and set aside.

• In another pan, add ghee and roast cashews and raisins till golden brown and set aside.
• Add grated Lauki to the same ghee and saute for four-five minutes.
• Add this to the boiling milk and cook for another 10 mins by stirring in between till creamy and Lauki becomes soft.
• Add sugar and keep stirring to cook for another five-six minutes. Add cardamon powder and stir to mix. Switch off the stove.
• Serve warm or chilled. I prefer them being chilled. Enjoy!!!!

Sending this to 'My Diwali My way' Event hosted by Khusi @ A Girl's Diary

Dates Pradhaman/Payasam

The idea of making Dates Pradhaman or Dates Payasam came out just because I was trying to finish of the leftover dates. My kids do not like to eat dates for some reason and I end up making Dates log all the time. I thought of making something else other than logs and end up making this payasam as I knew my son would love to have payasam anytime. Now then when I made up my mind to make payasam I was still debating whether to make it with Jaggery-Coconut milk or Milk-Sugar. I'm sure every Keralite have these two ways of making payasams, that is either with coconut milk and jaggery called 'Pradhaman' or Milk and Sugar called 'Payasam'. At the end Coconut milk-Jaggery mix won the debate since Pradhaman is my hubby and kids all time favorite. Try out this awesome payasam for this Onam and I'm sure you all will love it. Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients:-

Dates de-seeded and chopped - 2 cups

Ghee - 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp

Jaggery - 1/2 cup(boil by adding 2 tbsp of water and strain of the impurities)

Coconut milk thiick - 1 cup

Coconut milk thin - 1 1/2 cup

Cashews few

Raisins few

Cardamom powder - 2 tsp

water - 1 cup

Preparation Method:-

• Soak the dates in water for 10 mins. Strain off the water to another vessel and keep aside for later use.
• Heat up a thick bottom pan with wide mouth(uruli preferably) and add 2 tsp ghee. Keep the flame in medium heat and saute the chopped dates for say 2-3 minutes.
• Add the thin coconut milk and the strained water to the dates and cook for 5-7 mins till everything boils and dates are cooked well. Keep stirring in between.
• Add the melted jaggery and stir well for 3-5 mins. Now add the thick coconut milk and cook in low-med heat for say 3-4 mins. Set aside.
• Heat up a small frying pan add 2 tbsp of ghee and roast cashews and raisins. Add them to the cooked pradhaman with the ghee.
• Spread the cardamom powder and mix everything well. Set aside to let it cool.
• Serve warm or chilled. You can garnish with few more chopped dates if desired. Enjoyy!!!!!

Note:- Since dates are really sweet you should try to adjust the use of jaggery accordingly. I have used very less amount of jaggery while making this. So before planning to make this keep this in your mind and try to adjust the sweetness accordingly

Aravana Payasam(Neypayasam)

Aravana Payasam reminds me of the prasadam that we get from Sabarimala and Guruvayoor temple. Anyone or everyone who visits Sabarimala or Guruvayoor gets this for their family and for the friends and neighbors. This tastes so good with the richness of dark brown jaggery, ghee and rice - I really don't have any words to describe the taste. But the saddest part was since it is a 'prasadam' from the temple we just get to taste it, may be a spoon or two because it has to be distributed between the family, friends and neighbours. 

As I mentioned this payasam is made with dark brown jaggery but here in US it is tough to find the brown jaggery. Instead we get the pale golden color jaggery and so my 'Payasams' looks a bit light brown in color compared to our temple one's. But I swear, try this out and I'm sure you will never regret making it, it just tastes the same as the one we get in the temple. And if you have the option to get the dark brown jaggery, please use it instead of the light colored one's and I'm sure it will look the original aravana payasam as well. The best rice for making this payasam would be 'Unakkalari' - red colored raw rice(pachari with bran), I have used Basmathi rice since I didn't get it here. So guys enjoyyy serving this payasam for your onam fest this time...

Ingredients:- 

1. Raw rice/Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
2. Water - 5 cups(you may need to add more if needed)
3. Ghee -  1/2 cup
4. Jaggery - 3 cups
5. Cardamom - 3(crushed
6. Cashews, raisins a handful
7. Coconut cut into small slices - 2 tbsp(optional)

Ingredients:-

• Add 1/2 cup water to the jaggery and bring it to boil. Strain this jaggery syrup to remove impurities if any. Set aside.
• Wash the rain two-three times and drain the water fully. Set aside.
• Add 2 tbsp ghee in a pan in medium flame and roast the rice for say three-four minutes so that rice absorbs the aroma of ghee(do not over do it, rice will become crispy)
• Add water to the rice and get it to boil, stir till the bottom of the pan and let it cook in medium heat.
• When the rice is cooked add 1/4 cup ghee, keep stirring continuously in medium heat to blend well for say five minutes(stirring the payasam continuously makes the payasam much tastier)
• Add the melted jagery to the rice-ghee mix and cook for somemore time, keep stiring in between so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• When the paysam is thick enough add the cardamom powder. Switch off the flame
• Add  a tbsp of ghee to another pan, roast cashews, raisins and broken coconut slices and add to the payasam along wiith the ghee.
• Add in the remaining ghee if any and mix well. Payasam is ready to Serve. Enjoy!!!!!
  
  

  

  
  

Note:-

• I have added 2:1 ratio for rice and ghee, you can increase or decrease the quantity of ghee according to your taste or preference. Adding more ghee defintely adds more taste but on a healthier note you can reduce the quantity of ghee to a few tbsp if you are not making it for any special occasion.
• I would suggest this payasam for kids from age 1-5 when they get fuzzy to eat rice/roti or normal food. Try this for them, they will get a break from the same kind of  food. Ghee, jaggery and rice is good for their health as well. You can decrease the quantity of jaggery and ghee if needed.

Parippu Pradaman

Ingredients: -

Moong Dal/Cherupayar Parippu – 2 cups
Jaggery syrup- 2 cup(Boiled with 2tbsp of water and strained of impurities)
Thick coconut milk -1 cup
Thin coconut milk -2 cups
Cardamom pods -3(crush with pestle in a mortar)
Salt – a pinch
Water 4 cups
Ghee - 2tsp
Coconut pieces - 2tsp
Raisins and cashews – a handful
Preparation Method:-

• Wash the moong and drain of the water completely.
• Dry roast the moong till crisp and press cook with enough water for 6-7 whistles(keep the flame to medium after the first whistle)
• One the cooker looses the pressure and becomes cool, open the cookr and stir well to mash the moong.
• Add the jaggery and stir continuosly for 4-5 minutes in medium flame so that moong absorbs sweetness from the jaggery. 
• Add the thin coconut milk and stir continuously for 5-10 mins till it start thickening.
• Add the thick coconut milk and keep stiring for few more minutes.
• Add in cardamom powder, salt and mix well. Remove from the flame
• Heat up a smaal pan, pour ghee into it add raisins, cashews and coconut pieces fry for a minute till everything turns light brown.
• Add this to the pradaman along with the ghee.
• Move to a serving dish. Serve warm.  

Note:- I love it being served after being refrigerated for sometime.