Akkaravadisal / Akki Payasa

Akkaravadisal / Akki Payasa

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice
• 4 or 5 pieces of jaggery/bella ( 1 1/2" x 1" bella pieces or 1 cup of powered bella or brown sugar)
• 2 cups whole milk (or 2% milk )
• 1/8 tsp of turmeric
• 1/4 tsp powdered cardamon
• 1 tiny weeny piece of paccahae karapoora/natural camphor (pinch to break it up)
• 4  to 6 strands of saffron/kumkumapoo/kesari (soak in a 1/8 cup of water of warm water for a couple minutes, extract the color by                                           pinching and rolling the strands between your fingers)
• 1 tbs ghee/tuppa/naiee
• 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut (or frozgrn coconut)

Payasa

Optional Garnish:

• 1/4 cup almonds coarsely crushed or chopped
• 1/4 cashews coarsely crushed or chopped
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 1 tbs ghee/tuppa/naiee

Method:

Rinse and thoroughly drain the rice. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed dish and roast the rice for about 5 minutes on medium heat.  When the rice turns white, add 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes. Then add milk and continue to cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring now and then. The rice should be well done and pretty mushy. Add jaggery, lower heat to melt and incorporate the jaggery into the dish.  Cook till all the jaggery is melted, stirring often. Then add the grated coconut, ground cardamon, natural camphor, saffron extract, mix thoroughly and turn the heat off.

Optional Garnishing:

Heat ghee on medium heat in a pan and roast almonds, cashews till they are browned slightly. Then add the raisins and roast further till the raisins turn plump and the nuts have turned golden brown. Add to the cooked payasa and mix well.

Cooking tips:

You can also use the pressure cooker to make the unsweetened portion of the recipe. Vary the jaggery quantities per your taste. Add additional milk while cooking to keep the consistency of the payasa liquidy. It will anyway thicken as it cools down. Cooking rice in milk is a little tricky. Stir and turn the rice around often to keep it from sticking and burning at the bottom of the dish. You can roast the nuts in a a microwave. Raisins can be used as is.

Serving tips:

Serve on festivals or as dessert any time.