“Naivedyam : Kesari Doodh Pak (Saffron- Milk- Rice- Sabudana Kheer/ Payasam)” … a traditional dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared as an offering to God on any festive occasion … I just gave it a little bit extra lift with addition of kesar for more flavor and color (no artificial color added) ... also added on pumpkin seeds along with other dry fruits for garnishing … I prepared this as Naivedyam/ Prasadam offering to God on today's Choodi Pooja's occasion ... it was awesome in taste and w enjoyed it very much … Stay Blessed- Spread Happiness ...
** Doodh Pak is a sweet payasam sort of dish often prepared during festivals as and 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. I have also added almond slivers and pumpkins seeds for extra crunch while savoring and it tastes excellent.
** Keshar (Kesar/ Saffron) is traditionally not added to Doodh Pak, you may check out my first post shared in Blog for reference, its milky white and looks beautiful. However, I have been wanting to try out kesari flavored and colored doodh pak for some time and here I have add any other artificial color, looks and tastes awesome.
** Married ladies from GSB Konkani Saraswat Community observe Choodi Pooja during Shravana Masa on Friday’s and Sunday’s and prepare any type of prasadam as an offering to God. Today I prepared this saffron flavored doodh pak with garnishing of cashew nuts, raisins, almond, pumpkin seeds and it was scrumptious.
** Here is my recipe for “Kesari Doodh Pak (Saffron- Milk- Rice- Sabudana Kheer/ Payasam)” … my style …
** 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)
Saffron/ Keshar/ Kesar : 20- 25 strands (about 1 tblsp)
** For Garnishing :
Cashew Nuts/ Kajjubi/ Kaju : 12-15
Raisins/ Sukkale Draksha/ Kishmish : 1-2 tblsp
Pumpkin Seeds : 1 tblsp
Almond/ Badam : 8-10 slivers
Ghee/ Toop : 1 tblsp
** 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, add kesar, mix well, lower the heat, add in sugar and keep mixing until its completely mixed and kesar gives out a beautiful golden color. 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.
** Note : All cooked ingredients like, rice, sabudana, boiled milk with kesar- 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, remove and add this to the simmering doodh pak. Add cardamom powder, almond sliver, pumpkin seeds and mix well.
** 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.
** “Kesari Doodh Pak (Saffron- 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 choodi pooja’s occasion. It was awesome in taste and my family and all my friends too enjoyed it very much.
** The method of preparation as explained may look elaborate or tedious but frankly it is not. You just need to understand the step by step procedure well studying it keenly and follow it which will actually not take much time if well planned ahead. I have tried to explain in detail for easy grasping which at times looks a long method, that’s all. Do try it, and enjoy with your family and friends on any occasion of celebration.
** 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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