There are many payasams/payasas that we make for festivals/special occasions. By modifying the ingredients/method slightly, entirely new sweetdish is made. Check out doodh paank , tandla paays , madagane . These all recipes have almost the same ingredients but taste very different due to the slight difference in method. My mother used to prepare this paays, we used to like it very much.
Ingredients: 1/4 cup rice 1/4 cup Sugar 4 cups milk 2 tea spn cashew nuts 2 tea spn raisins 1/4 tea spn Saffron strands 1/4 tea spn cardamom powder
Method: Soak rice in water for about half an hour.Grind it with some milk (about 2 tablespoons ) to a coarse paste.Boil the remaining milk in a pan. Add the ground paste of rice to the milk while stirring it continuously.Add cashews, raisins and saffron to this mixture and continue to heat it till they are cooked. Add sugar and boil for two more minutes. Sprinkle cardamom powder. Milk paayasam is ready to serve.
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 20mins
Pictorial:
This version of Chana usli is usually distributed at the time of Ugadi and Rama navami festivals in our grama devi temple – which is a beautiful temple on the hills at our place. Everyone eagerly waits for this prasadam after pooja at the temple on these festivals. As some of our viewers requested, I thought of posting this traditional recipe. I got this from bhatmam (priest) of the temple who usually prepares this for the festivals. It is healthy and nutritious. Hence I introduced it as a side dish at our home too.
Ingredients: 1 cup chana/chickpeas (soak overnight in water) ½ cup grated coconut 6-7 red chillies 2 tea spn coriander seeds 2 tea spn mustard seeds ½ tea spn cumin seeds ¼ tea spn fenugreek seeds ¼ tea spn asafoetida 1 tea spn jaggery ½ tea spn tamarind Salt Oil
Method: Cook chana in sufficient water with the salt in a cooker and keep it aside. Fry coriander seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chillies in oil. Turn off the heat and add asafoetida. Coarse grind this along with grated coconut and tamarind with minimum quantity of water. Add this mixture to already cooked chana. Add jaggery to this and cook for 2 minutes. Chanal usli is ready to be served either with chapatis or as a side dish with rice. It can also be served as evening snacks.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 25mins
