Nei Payasam is a special traditional payasam usually served in Sabari Malai temples and many Kerala temples during occasions.I wanted to finish up unakalari rice which I bought last year so was searching for recipes using that and this Nei Payasam or also called as Aravana payasam caught my attention.As I love anything sweet and payasam being my all time favorite , I tried it last week and it was so delicious...after all rice, jaggery and ghee is always a wining combo.
Traditionally they use brass uruli to make this nei payasam so I suggest to use any thick bottomed pan.I used my new Ultra Pressure Pan and it was perfect for making payasam right from start to finish.Few main things I loved about the pan is it has a min, max marks inside which helps in easy fixing of levels, the thick base avoids burning at the bottom and the satin finished inner surface avoids sticking and easy to clean as well.I have tried few gravies, rice dishes in the pan so more experiments and reviews in the coming weeks.
Traditionally they use brass uruli to make this nei payasam so I suggest to use any thick bottomed pan.I used my new Ultra Pressure Pan and it was perfect for making payasam right from start to finish.Few main things I loved about the pan is it has a min, max marks inside which helps in easy fixing of levels, the thick base avoids burning at the bottom and the satin finished inner surface avoids sticking and easy to clean as well.I have tried few gravies, rice dishes in the pan so more experiments and reviews in the coming weeks.
Nei Payasam Recipe
Preparation Time:10 mins | Processing Time : 20 mins | Serves:2
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Unakkalari Rice - 1/2 cup(I used broken variety)
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Jaggery - 1 cup, Water - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry Ginger Powder - a tiny pinch
Cashews - 7 broken
Method:
- Soak jaggery in warm water(till immersing level) , crush it well. Then heat it up until it is slightly thick (no string consistency needs to be checked).Cool down, strain and keep aside.
- Measure rice and add it to pressure pan,rinse it well first.Then add 2 cups of water.
- Pressure cook for atleast 5 whistles in low medium flame.Rice should be cooked till soft but not mushy as we want the grains to be seen.Measure and addd jaggery syrup.
- Mix well and cook in low flame till the jaggery syrup blends well with the rice.Now add grated coconut.
- Mix well and cook for 2 mins, then add ghee little by little.
- Keep mixing, at one stage the payasam will get thick and saucy in consistency.Add cashews,cardamom powder, dry ginger powder and switch off.
My Notes:
- You can even add ghee fried cashews but as there is lots of ghee in the payasam its better to add as such.
- Don't cook till very thick as it will harden further after cooling down.The consistency is more like sweet pongal.
- This payasam is very rich so it is always served in small portions.
- Unakkalari is a special type of Kerala Raw rice which gives a unique flavour to the payasam.I had broken variety so used it up, you can use the whole rice too.
- Don't make jaggery syrup too diluted.
- The color of the payasam depends totally on the jaggery color.
