Godhumai/ Broken wheat Pradhaman

Main ingredient for any pradhaman is coconut milk. Kerala,being the land of coconuts, has variety of pradhamans. I have blogged about Pazha Pradhaman earlier. Here is the recipe for another popular pradhaman with broken wheat.


Ingredients:
Broken wheat - 3/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Water

Method:
Pressure cook the broken wheat using 3/4 cup water.
Melt the jaggery with a little water and strain to remove any impurities.
Boil the jaggery syrup and add the cooked broken wheat. Boil until the mixture is thick.
In a separate vessel mix 1/2 cup coconut milk with little less than 1/2 cup of water.
Add this to the boiling mixture. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the coconut milk and remove immediately from heat.
Stir in cardamom powder.

Note: If the pradhaman thickens too much, a little milk can be added. Adjust sweet accordingly.

Preparation Time: About 25 mins
Serves: 5-6 people

Pazha Pradhaman

Ona Sadhya is not complete without the delicious desserts, payasam and pradhaman. The diffenrence between the 2 are that pradhamans are prepared using coconut milk and jaggery (except in Palada Pradhaman) where as payasams are prepared using milk and sugar . There are different varieties of pradhamans unique to Kerala like chakka pradhaman, pazha pradhaman, parippu pradhaman, ada pradhaman, wheat pradhaman, etc.

For our Ona Sadhya, I prepared pazha pradhamn. Pazha pradhaman is prepared using ripe plantains, Nendran variety (Yellow long ones). Except for the processes of extracting coconut milk, this pradhaman is quite simple to prepare. Of course canned coconut milk saves us this task. In this recipe I have used the canned coconut milk

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Ripe plantains(Nenthrapazham) - 1
Jaggery - 1/4 cup (melt in little waster and remove impurites)
Coconut milk – 1/4 cup (thick)
Ghee - 1 tbsp


Garnish:
Coconut pieces - 1 tbsp
Cashews broken into pieces - 2 tsp
Raisins - 2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp


Method:
Steam cook the banana untill it becomes soft.
Peel and cut the banana. Remove the seeds from the cooked banana.
Remove the seeds and mash it well using hand so that there aren't any lumps.
Heat ghee in a pan and fry the mashed banana for 5-6 mins.
Then dilute 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk with 1/4 cup water and add this to the banana being fried.
Add the jaggery and let it cook for about 8-10 mins in medium heat till the mixture thickens.
Then add the rest of the coconut milk and immeidately remove from heat.
Add cardamom powder.
Fry the coconut pieces, cashew and raisins and add this to the pradhaman.

Note: If you require more sweetness, you can increase the quantity of jaggery.

Preparation Time: About 25 mins
Serves: 2 people

Per Paramanna/ Pal Payasam

'Per' in Tulu language means Milk as in 'Pal' in Malayalam and Tamil. This is a payasam made out of milk with Rice (Anna). The third ingredient is sugar and thats all is required for making this payasam. Pal payasam is one of the delicacies, served in all the auspicious occasions in Kerala. Its prepared in every home during the Onam season as well. As children we used wait eagerly to drink the payasam...So much that, we would reduce eating rice and other vegetable dishes, to equip ourselves to drink as much as payasam we can! Village life, loads of activities...Who was worried about calories then?! Its the new lifestyle, which has replaced Food and Fun with Food and Calories!

The rice, which I'm using here is the Red Matta rice (Also called as Red rice/Rosematta Rice). We get the broken matta rice, which takes lesser time in cooking. Hence, I'm using the broken matta rice. We may use the whole grain rice too. It is a rice with high fibre content and is highly recommended by dieticians for pregnant ladies and growing children. One can skip the multi-vitamin capsules, if having Red matta rice. Such is its glory!

Ingredients:
Red Matta Rice- 1/2 cup
Milk- 4 cups
Sugar- 1 1/2 cup

Method:

Pressure cook the Rice with a cup of water and a cup of milk. After it has cooked, transfer it to a thick bottomed vessel and add the remaining milk. Also, add the sugar and let the payasam boil in medium heat continuosly for about 45 minutes. Keep stirring constantly. The payasam will attain a thick consistancy and the you will get the lovely rice aroma. Serve hot!

TIP: If you do not have enough time to prepare payasam in such an elaborate manner, then you can use Condensed Milk. After you have transferred the cooked rice-water-milk mixture into a vessel, add just 1/2 cup sugar, remaining milk and 1/2 the tin of Condensed milk. Let it boil for about 15 minutes and an equally tasty payasam is ready!

Preparation Time: 50 Minutes
Serves: 4 People

Padanji bele payasam/ Moong dal payasam

When it comes payasams, we all drool. This is a payasam with Padanji bele (Moong dal); happens to be my best half's ultimate favorite. There are two categories under which payasams may fall. One in which we add jaggery with coconut milk as the combination, else, its sugar with plain milk. The trophy, I personally feel, should go to the former.

In Udupi, during the summer time, we get tender cashew-nuts. These may be added in this payasam along with moong dal...now thats called as a deadly combination. I'm adding Sabu dana (Tapioca pearls) along with the dal just to bring about a variation.

Ingredients:

Moong dal- 1/2 cup
Sabu dana- 1/2 Tbsp
Jaggery- 3/4 cup
Coconut milk- 2 cups (Extract of one coconut)
Ghee- 4 tsp
Cashew nuts- Few
Raisins- Few
Cardamom powder- A pinch

Method:

In a pan, dry roast the dal well till you get the aroma. Soak Sabu dana is in a cup of water for half an hour.
Put the dal and sabu dana into a vessel and add a cup of coconut milk along with 2 cups of water. Let the dal and sabu dana cook in this milk-water mixture. This will take about 15-20 minutes. Keep stirring in between. In another small vessel, add the jaggery and pour about 1/4 cup of water to just melt the jaggery. Strain this solution and pour it into the cooked dal. Let this boil for 10 minutes. Add the remaining coconut milk and let it boil for few minutes as well.Now, in a pan, to 4 tsp of hot ghee, add cashew nuts and fry them well. To this add the raisins and pour this into the payasam. Add pinch of Cardamom powder and serve hot.

Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4 people

Nei Payasam

Nei payasam or Aravana payasam is a famous offering in the temples of Kerala. It is the main prasadam offered to millions of pilgrims at Sabarimala during the Mandala and Makara Vilakku festivals. It is also a traditional offering during Bhagavathi Sevai, a pooja performed in the month of Karkitakam/Aadi on any Friday between 15th July to 15th Aug to seek goddess Bhagavati's blessings for health, wealth and prosperity for the entire family.

Nei means ghee. Nei payasam literally means ghee payasam. Nei payasam is made on the kumutti (a charcoal grill) in an uruli - a heavy brass utensil used in Kerala. It is made with rice, jaggery and ghee.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 11/2 cupGhee- 1/2 cup or less
Water -1/2 cup to melt jaggery

Garnish:
Cashew - 10 - 15
Raisin - 10 - 15
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Pressure cook the rice with enough water such that the rice grains are separate but cooked well. It should not be sticky.
Melt Jaggery in a pan with the water. Strain and remove any impurities from the jaggery. Now boil the jaggery syrup for 2 - 3 minutes.
Add the cooked rice to the jaggery syrup. Mix well so that no lumps are formed. You can mix the rice by removing the pan from the stove and placing it back once it has mixed properly.
Add 2 - 3 tbsp of ghee to this mixture and keep stirring in a low heat. The ghee should be added at equal intervals to avoid the mixture sticking to the pan.
This has to be cooked till the mixture leaves the sides of the vessel.
Once the mixture leaves the sides of the pan, remove from the stove.
In a small pan add ghee and fry seperately the cashews and coconut till they are brown. Now fry the raisins till they puff.
Garnish the payasam with the fried cashew, coconut and raisins.

This payasam stays for 3-4 days without refrigeration. It tastes really good when it is hot.

Preparation time: About 40 - 45 mins
Serves: 2 people