“Naivedyam : Doodh Pak (Milk- Rice- Sabudana Kheer/ Payasam)” … a traditional sweet dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared as an offering to God on any festive occasion … tastes lovely served hot …
** Doodh Pak is a sweet payasam sort of dish often prepared during festivals as an offering of Naivedyam to God. This is a dish cooked in thick cow’s milk with a combination of rice and sabudana (Tapioca pearls), though you can use only rice if desired too. Garnished with plenty of fried cashew- raisins it tastes awesome served hot.
** Traditional method is to soak sabudana for 1-2 hrs, then cook it along with rice in milk until it’s soft and done. It should turn thicker in consistency though it often turns out too thick when allowed to rest in which case you can add in some hot milk and adjust the same. It is then garnished with Cashew Nuts and Raisins fried in ghee.
** However I have never got the correct consistency of cooking the sabudana to get pearly effect if cooked together as sometimes they get mashed up. So I tried successfully the method of cooking them initially separate and then combining them to further cook at the final stage. This always gives me perfect results, so do give it a try.
** For best results always use a rice with good flavor like either basmati or amba mor. I always use amba mor for any type of payasam I prepare as it gives perfect results. Again, use large sized sabudana for that perfect pearly outcome when cooked, the smaller in size usually gets mashed up when cooked for long time, that’s it simple.
** Always use full fat Cow’s Milk for preparation of Doodh Pak if possible. Whenever an offering Milk or Milk product is made to God we usually use Cow’s Milk as it is sacred. Again, ghee used is also cow’s milk ghee and I prefer to follow this advice handed down generations to us, some traditions are meant to be followed.
** Sugar as you all know is the fourth ingredient that has to be added in preparation of Doodh Pak and please do not cut down on the quantity to make it less sweeter for any reason. The taste lies in a perfect balance of milk and sugar and if need be eat a little lesser to cut down on sugar but not in addition of the same to doodh pak.
** Garnishing with nuts enhances the taste and looks of Doodh Pak and though it’s a matter of choice, I think a payasam without these two is just not advisable. You may add a little bit less if desired, but do add them. By and large cashew nuts and raisins are used after frying them in cow’s ghee, you add any other if desired.
** Here is my recipe for “Doodh Pak (Milk- Rice- Sabudana Kheer/ Payasam)” … my style which I learnt from my Amma …
** Ingredients :
Sabudana/ Tapioca Pearls (large sized) : 1 cup
Amba Mor Rice : 1 cup
Cow’s Milk/ Doodh : ½ liter (full fat milk)
Sugar/ Shakkar/ Sakkara : 1.5 to 2 cups (Appox)
** For Garnishing :
Cashew Nuts/ Kajjubi/ Kaju : 12-15
Raisins/ Sukkale Draksha/ Kishmish : 1-2 tblsp
Almond/ Badam Slivers : 1 tblsp
Ghee/ Toop : 1-2 tsp
** Wash and soak sabudana in a large bowl adding about 4-5 cups of water. Leave this covered aside for about 10-15 minutes. Drain off the water leaving only above 1 inch above the level of sabudana, cover and keep it aside for 2 hours.
** Note : Soaking gives best results when cooking sabudana giving it a transparent pearly look. Sabudana should swell properly and look like small white pearls for you to get the best spongy effect. It is not advisable to add sabudana directly, so do make some advanced preparations. Again if you have loads of work to attend to you can prepare this in advance and keep it in fridge and use the next day too.
** Wash and drain well Amba Mor Rice and keep ti aside ready. Boil about 2-3 cups of water in a thick bottomed large stainless steel vessel. When it comes to a boil, lower heat and add in drained rice. Bring to a boil on high heat and let cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Now lower the heat and cook until the rice is 80% done.
** Remove and keep the vessel aside covered for 3 minutes allowing the rice to settle and the excess water to surface. Gently tilt the vessel and remove as much excess water as possible in another thick bottomed stainless steel vessel. Keep the rice cooked vessel aside covered while we go ahead with cooking of sabudana.
** Add the sabudana soaked and kept ready into the vessel in which the strained cooked rice water is added and continue cooking sabudana in it until soft, transparent and almost done. Add some hot water if required. Keep stirring and checking in between so that the sabudana does not get burnt at the bottom of the vessel.
** Note : The sabudana will look a bit translucent, mirror like when done. So please keep checking and cooking until you get that texture.
** Meanwhile bring the milk to boil and when done, lower the heat, add in sugar and keep mixing until its completely dissolved. Now add this into the vessel in which rice is cooked and also add in the cooked sabudana to it and mix all together well and continue to cook on low to medium heat stirring it all the time.
** Note : All cooked ingredients like, rice, sabudana, boiled milk with sugar are all now added in one large vessel for further cooking of doodh pak.
** The Doodh Pak starts thickening and gets well blended, at this stage you have to be careful and see to it that the heat is low as it has a tendency to stick to bottom of the vessel. You have to keep stirring to avoid it being burnt as then the whole doodh pak will turn into a mess and give out the burnt flavor, so keep a keen watch.
** Heat ghee in a small tempering pan, when hot add cashew nut broken to medium sized pieces and fry until it slightly changes in color, then add raisins and continue to fry together, they will turn lightly brown turning to balls, remove and add this to the simmering doodh pak. Add cardamom powder, almond slivers and mix well.
** Again, addition of almond slivers is also an individual choice and can be skipped if not desired. I love cashews, almonds, raisins, so decided to add on all three of them. You can add any other dry fruit of your choice too if desired, however traditionally only raisins and cashew nuts are added.
** Note : If you do not want to fry the cashew nuts and raisins in ghee, then you may skip it and add them as it is too, its individual choice. Again, addition of almond slivers is also an individual choice and can be skipped if not desired. Traditionally only raisins and cashew nuts are added to doodh pak.
** Remove from heat and keep it aside covered for 30 minutes to rest well. On resting “Doodh Pak” always tends to thickening up a lot, don’t try mixing it roughly as it will mash up the softened rice, instead add some hot milk to it and gently mix using folding method and bring to desired consistency and it is done.
** “Doodh Pak (Milk- Rice- Sabudana Kheer/ Payasam)” is done and ready to be offered as Naivedyam to God on any festive occasion and thereby distributed among family and friends. As I mentioned I prepared this as Naivedyam offering to God on today’s festive occasion. Do try it, it tastes lovely and my family and all my friends too enjoyed it very much. Do remember to serve it hot for best in taste.
** About Saffron (Keshar/ Kesar) : Saffron is a spice derived from the stigmas of the Crocus sativus flower, known for its vibrant red color, distinct flavor, and high cost. It's used as a seasoning and coloring agent in cooking, and also has medicinal and cosmetic applications. It is used to add a unique flavor and color to dishes, particularly in rice dishes, stews, and baked goods. t is believed to have medicinal properties and is used in traditional medicine for various ailments. It is sometimes referred to as "red gold" due to its high value. I love added it to coolants, naivedyam dishes etc.
** I often prepare “Doodh Pak” on festive days and over the years there are plenty of minute variations made while preparing the same, be it with addition of flavors or with fruits etc. Here I have added just a pinch of “Keshar (Kesar/ Saffron)” while cooking the doodh pak and the difference shows in the minute change in color of off white milk. Saffron is traditionally not added to Doodh Pak, you may check out above picture shared, its milky white and looks beautiful. However, I like making some changes and tried this one out so decided to share it here for those of you who wish to do so if desired. Just add a pinch of saffron while boiling the milk and rest of the recipe remains the same. I did not make a separate post as there are hardly any changes so, go ahead, try and enjoy this one too.
** Sharing a common link to “Doodh Pak” recipes in the Blog, please browse through in liesure and try them out and give me a feedback if possible ….
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