Paal Payasam

Thanks to Vidya G and Vidya B, who inspired me to start this Cookalogue, and Lakshmi who is spicing up this blog, there goes my first recipe.  As with convention, we start with a sweet.

Paal payasam (rice pudding for the anglicized) is typically served at weddings, not at the main marriage ceremony, but in one or more of the satellite functions, such as the previous night, or reception. Krishna temples in Kerala, notably Guruvayur and Allapuzha are known for paal payasam.  It is believed that the angels gave Dasharatha the magic paal payasam, which blessed his wives with children.



Paal payasam is typically made with milk, raw rice and sugar. There are variations, of course. In Kerala temples, the payasam is made with matta rice, which gives it a pink tinge. I am not aware of parboiled rice used for paal payasam, I would suspect that it would add a different flavour to the payasam. The pressure cooker recipe below is the simplified version. If you are a stickler to conventions, you can make it on an open pan in the stove. Obviously it will take thrice as much time, but the result will be totally worth it since the milk thickens gradually giving it the flavour of "theratti paal" (Kova). The pain of the conventional procedure is that if you choose to go to the loo in the middle of the process, the milk will catch at the bottom giving it that yucky smoked aroma, and if you are in the US, set off the fire alarm.  So, it is best not to drink water for 24 hours before you make this paal payasam the conventional way.

This payasam can be made with aval instead of rice, but it lacks the, umm, what-shall-we-call-it - punch perhaps?  The paysam can be made with broken rice (noi) as well. Obviously noi takes less time to cook. So for a chatpata dessert, use noi.

People up north use Basmathi instead of raw rice, and also add a lot of dry fruits and nuts to it to make a rich kheer. And by "rich" we are talking about rich of the stinking variety, because the number of calories per serving works to 2979, as calculated here . So, it is best to not think of your weight when consuming this dish, or you may shoot up your blood pressure through indirect means. If you are really really into weight watching, and you think you have enough self-control, take one tea-spoon of the payasam and sprint to the next zip code. Also, if you choose to top your dinner with this dessert, be prepared for an overnight stay in vivid-dreamland.

This is good for children who are fussy about drinking their milk. They get their calcium, and calories. Of course, all that sugar will make them bounce off walls, but what are walls for anyway?

The best thing about this payasam is that it can be consumed boiling hot or ice cold.  In fact you can fire up your imagination and make your own version. For example, you can serve cold paal payasam, topped with jelly and be a super hit at birthday parties. If you are not too worried about the tyres in your midsection, you can top it with custard, or even ice cream.  Or chocolate shavings.  Or the multicoloured candy thingy they top icecreams with in Baskin Robins in the US.  Your imagination is your limit.

The more conservative of the lot replace sugar with jaggery. However the procedure becomes different when jaggery is used. That of course, is no longer called "paal payasam" but "akkara adisal" which is quitenessentially an Iyengar delicacy. When jaggery is used, it is first boiled in water until the aroma of Paagu fills up your neighbourhood and this is then added to the rice that has been previously cooked to mash in milk, followed by the aromatic items like cardamom etc.

So, without further ado, lets make pressure cooker paal payasam.

Ingredients:
Milk-one litre
Raw rice-1 handful
sugar-one cup(200gms)
saffron-a pinch

Cooking time:50 minutes

Procedure:
For this recipe measurements have to be exact.

1.In a Pressure cooker take one litre of milk.To this add one handful of raw rice(washed).Also add a pinch of saffron.

2. Then close the cooker with the weight.After one whistle, simmer it for 30 minutes.

3.switch off the stove and let the cooker cool down for 10 minutes.
4.Then add one cup of sugar and again simmer it for 10 minutes

5.Your Paal payasam is ready in 50 minutes.

Variations:

Akkara adisal
Substitute one handful of rice with one cup of rice and 2 spoons of Moong dhal(Payatham paruppu). (Some hardcore iyengard don't add moong dal). First fry the rice and moong dhal in Ghee, and then cook the above in milk.Instead of sugar Jaggery is used.Before adding jaggery make sure you melt the jaggery with little water and strain to remove the dirt and then add it to the milk, rice misture.Add ghee while stirring.Garnish with fried cashews and kismis.

Condensed milk payasam
The same recipe can be followed.Sweetened condensed milk can be substituted for sugar. This of course adds more to the already whopping calories. 

Fruit and nut payasam
For kids, you can add grated pistas, cashews and badam.Grating always makes a big difference to the dish.

Badam Payasam
Soak 10 badam overnight or cook in microwave for a minute.Remove the skin and make a smooth paste with a little milk.Follow the same procedure without rice, add the badam paste to the milk and simmer it for 10-15 minutes.

Jelly payasam
You can make colourful jellys for Kids Birthday party and place the jellys in individual cups.Chill the paal payasam(minus the rice).When you serve pour the payasam on top of the jellys..No time to make jellys..You can use tutty fruity.

Kheer/Rice pudding
Add one cup of Basmati rice to one litre milk. Basmati rice gets cooked faster than raw rice.Simmer it for atleast an hour with crushed cardamom until milk reduces to half. Fry cashews, pistas,badam,kismis in ghee and add it to the Kheer. Unlike South Indian Payasam, Kheer should be thick.You can serve it hot or chilled.