Being away for Onam for the past 6 years, one would imagine I would be used to the acute feeling of homesickness each time. Nope. Doesn’t look like that’s happening.
Although I had resolved to get more involved in cooking for festivals, I failed miserably for Onam this year. A sudden work trip took me away from home and I didn’t even have my camera with me to do something about it.
Anyway, what’s all that in the face of a good, warm (or cold) bowl of payasam, eh? Any payasam with sharkkara (vellam or jaggery) is my absolute favourite. Of course, TH can’t stand jaggery and won’t even come near anything made with it but each time I go home to Kerala, I bring back two of these jaggery balls and store them in the fridge. Leave out for a few mins before grating with a knife if you like to do the same. I prefer this darker, no-salt version to the white terribly salty versions that seem to be available everywhere outside Kerala. Use this for a genuine Kerala flavour to anything with jaggery.
This jaggery is also the reason for the deep brown colour for my sweet modak poornam filling.
Although kadala parippu payasam is also a favourite, I decided to go with cheru payar (moong dal or pasi paruppu) this time. This Kadala Parippu pasayam is another favourite jaggery-based South Indian payasam. Browse more Payasam Recipes for Onam.
Cherupayar Payasam (Kerala Parippu Payasam)
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup of cheru payar / pasi paruppu / moong dal
3/4 cup more or less of grated jaggery (or brown sugar, but it’s a poor substitute)
3 heaping tbsp of ghee
10 plain, unsalted cashewnuts
A few of raisins
1 cup of thick coconut milk (onnaam paal)
3-4 cups of thin coconut milk (rendaam paal)
4-5 cardamom pods, crushed
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Roast the parippu in a dry pan until it turns golden brown.
2. Add the thin coconut milk (rendaam paal) and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles until mushy.
In hindsight, I probably should have left some whole dal in there too, for some texture. I think I mashed it up too much.
3. Add some water to the grated jaggery and heat it on medium flame until it begins to melt. Stir well until the jaggery fully melts, strain, and mix in with the cooked dal.
4. Return the dal mixture to the fire, bring to boil and add the thick coconut milk. Heat through, add the crushed cardamom and remove from fire. Do not boil after adding the thick coconut milk.
5. Now, heat the ghee in a pan and add the cashew nuts and raisins. When the nuts turn golden brown and the raisins have puffed up, remove and add to the payasam. Mix well.
Notes:
1. I used canned coconut milk so I think it was thicker than I expected. My payasam turned out thicker than I am used to eating back home but it was still very tasty and I couldn’t sense any difference in flavour.
2. Don’t mush up the dal too much, leave some bits whole for some added texture.
Also, Happy Onam everyone 🙂
Thanks for this. Made this today and so yummm!
Looks Good and easy, going to try it for my anniversary.
Payasam tastes better if roasted cherupayar not get cooked in pressure cooker.
best is not to cook the dal in the pressure cooker. tho it takes a long while the open pan – uruli payasams taste definitely better than pressure cooked ones
i agree making payasam in uruli for onam is the best, especially cherupayar parippu payasam. this is just a quicker version of the same payasam 🙂
thanks de
ar……..
Hi Nags,
How can I get thin coconut milk using canned coconut milk? The milk is usually quite heavy and thick, maybe there'll be a 1-inch layer of the **slightly** thinner liquid. Can I just water it down?
Another question – can the coconut milk potentially split after pressure cooking? If so how can I avoid this?
Thanks 🙂
yes you can water down canned coconut milk to make it thinner. thinner coconut milk won't split when you add it to pressure cooker but thick coconut milk will.
Hi Nags, great recipe. What brand of canned coconut milk goes well with this recipe? I live in Singapore too.
Karthi
Hello Karthi, I use the Ayam brand coconut milk in tetra pack. You can find it in mustafa or even fairprice in singapore 🙂
Great, we tried and it was 100 % success dish
I have invited my parents over for lunch this weekend and I am going to try this payasam. My parents both were born and brought up in kerela though we now live in AP. They just love everything about Kerela. Hope it comes out well.
Preethi
Hey nice explanation of one of my favourite SI dish. 🙂
good pics too.
look very yummmy . ummm
Payasam looks yummy 🙂
Happy Onam! That is one of my favourite paysams…. Love the combination of coconut milk and dal! Your version may be thicker but looks delicioud
Happy Onam to you and your family.
Loved the white flowers on the last picture. What are they called. Make a beautiful photograph.
I am going to make this payasam for my 10 month old son over the weekend. Am running off to buy the coconut milk right away.:)
Happy Onam, Nags. This one is so different from the conventional rice pudding/kheer. Thanks for sharing.
Marita, I have tried that too, long back 😀
Btw, the flowers are fake 😉
yummy payasam..nice brown jaggery you have got..I made gothambu payasam today and the jaggery was not dark, which made the payasam look very light 🙁 Happy onam to you and family..
Happy Onam, payasam looks absolutely delicious!!
Happy Onam gal ..this looks yum
I'm feeling extremely homesick right now after reading your payasam recipe. We have sharkara payasam with pappadam. It's AMAZING. Try it. 😀
Super favorite… love the preparation!!
Highly inviting payasam, super tempting..Happy Onam Nags..
happy Onam Nags
Homesickness during feativals – so understandable, I live in the same country, but a few states away and this year for Ganesh Chaturthi, I was MISERABLE !! I did my share of the cooking and puja, but nothing like being back home 🙁
awesome payasam…..