Traditional Pal Payasam recipe. Milk payasam / kheer recipe with step by step pictures. Old fashioned, Classic recipe.
The sweet ending to any lunch is not complete without Payasam. My grand mother loved pal payasam and my dad says her favorite way of eating payasam was with appalam. I can never get enough of this recipe. This is a very old fashioned recipe and one of the simplest ones you will ever come across. But as with all authentic Indian desserts, this too is a labor of love and time. The milk cooks for long and gets slowly caramelized and takes on a light creamy colour. There isn’t any better way to end your south Indian lunch than this pal payasam. One serving can never be enough. I like to serve it warm. Here is how to do old fashioned classic pal payasam.
This payasam is going to be on the stove for nearly one and half hours. If you are planning to serve it for lunch, first start the payasam on the stove and then start cooking your main meal. By the time the main cooking is over, the payasam also will be done. There is no need for constant stirring. The milk will not bubble over during cooking due to the water added while cooking. So don’t worry. We need to keep the flame in medium high at all times.
Take a wide deep bottomed heavy pan. Add in the water and the milk. For every litre of milk, we will be adding 1.5 litres of water. Let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil add in the washed rice to the pan. Keep cooking on medium high flame. Because of the large quantity of water used, the milk will not bubble over. Just make sure to have a wooden spatula. You need not keep stirring all the time. Once in 5 minutes is perfectly fine.
The milk mixture will start evaporating and reducing in volume. The milk mixture would have approximately reduced by half after 30-40 minutes. Keep stirring once in a while.
After about one hour and 15 minutes, the mixture would have become creamy in colour and thicker in consistency. Most of the liquid would have been evaporated by now. Add in the sugar and mix well. Let it boil for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in powdered cardamom. Mix well to combine.
For Tempering Heat ghee in a pan and add in the broken cashew nuts. Fry on low flame until the nuts are slightly golden. Add it to the pal payasam.
Serve warm.
Main Ingredients
- 1 litre Milk
- 1.5 litres Water
- 3 tablespoon Raw Rice
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 3 Cardamom, powdered fine
For Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Ghee
- 7 - 8 cashew nuts, broken
- Take a wide deep bottomed heavy pan. Add in the water and the milk. Let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil add in the washed rice to the pan. Keep cooking on medium high flame.
- The milk mixture will start evaporating and reducing in volume. The milk mixture would have approximately reduced by half after 30-40 minutes.
- After about one hour and 15 minutes, the mixture would have become creamy in colour and thicker in consistency. Add in the sugar and mix well. Let it boil for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in powdered cardamom. Mix well to combine.
- Heat ghee in a pan and add in the broken cashew nuts. Fry on low flame until the nuts are slightly golden. Add it to the pal payasam.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 90 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: South Indian
Main Ingredients
- 1 litre Milk
- 1.5 litres Water
- 3 tablespoon Raw Rice
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 3 Cardamom, powdered fine
For Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Ghee
- 7 - 8 cashew nuts, broken
- Take a wide deep bottomed heavy pan. Add in the water and the milk. Let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil add in the washed rice to the pan. Keep cooking on medium high flame.
- The milk mixture will start evaporating and reducing in volume. The milk mixture would have approximately reduced by half after 30-40 minutes.
- After about one hour and 15 minutes, the mixture would have become creamy in colour and thicker in consistency. Add in the sugar and mix well. Let it boil for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in powdered cardamom. Mix well to combine.
- Heat ghee in a pan and add in the broken cashew nuts. Fry on low flame until the nuts are slightly golden. Add it to the pal payasam.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 90 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: South Indian
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/pal-payasam-milk-payasam-recipe/
Recipe for Beans Usili. Paruppu Usili with Beans. Traditional Tamil kitchen style recipe. With step by step pictures.
Usili is a very traditional dish made in Tamilnadu and is very popular among the brahmin community. My friend Priya is married to a Tamil Brahmin and she learnt this recipe after marriage. Its a Tam-Brahm recipe as we call it. When I first heard it from her, I dint know what she was talking about. I have never heard of the word usili till then. But its such a common dish in her family and I learnt it later from her. Its such a delicious recipe that goes so well with rice for lunch along with sambar or rasam. The lentils are cooked and roasted till they are nutty and veggies are added along with a tempering. Beans is a very traditional veggie used in usili. There are so many variations that are available and this is Priya’s recipe. The original recipe does not use onions. But I like it in the recipe and so I have added onions too. Here is how to do tamil style Beans Paruppu Usili.
Soak the chana dal in water for one hour. Drain the water after soaking. Grind the chana dal with salt, asafoetida and dried red chillies. Do not add any water while grinding. Pulse it several times.
Oil an idli plate and place the ground mixture on the plate. Fill about half an inch of water in a pressure cooker and place the idli plate on the cooker. Pressure cook the mixture for 2 whistles. Switch off the flame. Let the pressure from the cooker release naturally. Let the mixture cool. Once the mixture is cool, crumble the mixture onto a plate. Set aside.
Wash and clean the beans. Now we need to de-string the beans. This is an important step as the strings are very fibrous and not pleasant to eat. Snap off the tip of one end of the bean with a paring knife and pull the string like below. Snap and pull other end of the bean too. Discard the snapped-off ends and strings. Note that the tender young bean might not have strings. So just snap off the ends alone. Finely chop the beans and steam the beans in a pressure cooker for two to three whistles until tender. Set aside.
Many people have asked me about the small pressure cooker that I use for my recipes. Its a 3 litre prestige stainless steel pressure cooker thats so perfect for my small family and I use it for everything. Boiling rice, lentils, veggies, steaming idlis etc.. Its such a multi tasker and does not consume lots of space. Here is where you can buy it online. Prestige Deluxe Alpha Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker, 3 Litres
Now, back to the recipe. Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry till the onions are soft. Add in the crumbled lentils and fry for a good 6-7 minutes.
Roasting the lentils until light brown is very important for this recipe. Roasting the lentils gives a very nice flavor to the dish. Once the lentils are nicely roasted, add in the cooked beans, salt and turmeric. Fry for 5 minutes.
Switch off the flame and serve the beans paruppu usili. Paruppu usili is usually served for lunch with Rasam and Sambar.
For Steaming Lentils
- 1/2 cup chana dal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 dried red chillies
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
- 1/8 teaspoon vegetable oil, for oiling idli plate
For Tempering
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 dried red chillies
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 250 grams beans, cleaned and finely chopped
- Soak the chana dal in water for one hour. Drain the water after soaking. Grind the chana dal with salt, asafoetida and dried red chillies. Do not add any water while grinding.
- Oil an idli plate and place the ground mixture on the plate. Pressure cook the mixture for 2 whistles. Switch off the flame. Once the mixture is cool, crumble the mixture onto a plate. Set aside.
- Wash and clean the beans.Finely chop the beans and steam the beans in a pressure cooker for two to three whistles until tender. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry till the onions are soft. Add in the crumbled lentils and fry for a good 6-7 minutes.
- Once the lentils are nicely roasted, add in the cooked beans, salt and turmeric. Fry for 5 minutes.
- Switch off the flame and serve the beans paruppu usili.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Stir-fry
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
