Rice (New) Payasam.

“Rice (New) Payasam” … Wishing all my friends A Very Happy and Prosperous Vijaya Dashami (Dussehra) … Here is my Naivedyam prepared out of ground rice, specially done for this occasion with the new harvest crop of rice … Dussehra is the tenth day of the Navaratri festival and is devoted to celebrating the victory of good over evil … In our life too may good triumph over the evil and may God Bless us all with the strength to follow the path of righteousness … Have a lovely Day … Stay Blessed … 

Rice Payasam is a rarely prepared dish in my home as it is usually prepared during particular festive seasons. During Vijaya Dashami ie Dussehra day it is prepared using newly available rice crop. After rains it’s the new crop season and new rice is obtained from the fields. With growing urbanization of cities and towns this rare to find now a days. I prepare this dish only once in a year and since I stay in Mumbai, I really cannot judge if the rice available is new or not. A few times my friend had provided me with the same. This time however, I used Amba Mor rice available in Mumbai. This is a very fragrant rice and kheer prepared out of this turns awesome. It takes a little bit more time in cooking than other rice as we grind the rice here for this payasam and the whole process has to be done on slow fire. But in all a yummilicious dish that is first offered to God as Naivedyam and served to family and friends.

Ingredients :

Raw Rice / Navo tandulu : 1 cup (I used Amba Mor brand rice)

Jaggery / Gud / Goda : 250 gms

Coconut Milk / Narla rosu : 1 cup (I used readily available from stores)

Cardamom Powder / Yella pitti : a large pinch

Raisins / Sukkile Draksha : 20

Cashew nuts halves / Kajjubi Kudko : 20

Colour (Yellow) : Very small pinch

Ghee : 1 tsp

** Wash rice in plenty of water and let drain in a colander for 10-15 mins. See to it that most of the water has drained off.

** Put the rice in a mixer grinder and grind to a very coarse paste. You can use pulse method as we do not want it to be ground to a fine paste. Just coarsely ground.

** Add the ground rice in a thick bottomed vessel / kadai along with 4 cups of boiling water and mix well. Bring to a boil stirring often. Once it comes to boil, lower the heat and cook on low heat till it is done. 

** Note : You have got to be very careful and keep stirring often as the rice tends to form lumps or stick to the bottom. If that happens you cannot use it further in preparation of kheer. So have patience and keep stirring to avoid the mess.

** Once the rice has cooked to very soft consistency, add in jaggery / gud after cutting into small pieces or grating the same. Mix well and allow the jaggery to melt. Once the jaggery has melted the kheer will be a little thinner. Do not worry, it will thicken during resting period.

** Add in the coconut milk and mix well. Keep stirring on medium flame and bring the payasam to a low boiling point. Now the payasam is done.

** Note :  We get good coconut milk in tetra packs in market. I stopped preparing the same long back at home and use them for all dishes be it payasam or curries where coconut milk is need. However if you want to prepare it at home, just grind 2 cups of freshly grated coconut with 2 cups of warm water and strain through a muslin cloth. 

** Heat the ghee in a small pan, when hot add in cashews and fry till slightly brown, then add in the raisins and mix well. The raisins will get swollen. Now remove and add this to the payasam along with the cardamom powder and mix well. Cover and keep aside for 30 mins. The payasam settles and thickens absorbing the flavours and coconut milk well.

** “Rice Payasam” is ready to be offered to God as Naivedyam. You may then serve this to your family and friends. There is no need for any particular occasion to eat payasam if you have a sweet tooth, that is if your family loves sweets. You may prepare this on any other occasion and relish the same too.