Perspective is everything in life. What seems to be good to you, can be bad to someone else. It does not necessarily mean that you are wrong and they are correct. Sometimes you have to work towards the tide and listen to your gut.
Economical coconut paruppu payasam? Why that name, you ask? Well, I would say my boyfriend managed to succeed. When I told him I was making paruppu payasam he said, ‘Name it after you make it.’ That signals how well he knows me and my experiments.
Paruppu Payasam was mostly done at my maternal grandmother’s house for a celebration. I vaguely remember what the occasion was. Payasam would be served hot and delicious despite the thin consistency it was made to feed a lot of people. We would all gather at their house, my aunts, uncles, cousins and kids, and attend the ceremonies/pooja made on that day. We would all talk, make fun of each other, pray, eat, drink this payasam, talk some more (while some people doze off in the background) and then we would part ways in the evening to our respective houses.
I was more closer to my maternal grandmother because she was the one longer to live and we just lived a stairs away from each other for about 10 years. I was notorious in asking questions to people who were closer to me. I think the most tortured victim was my dad. He would often wonder how I come with questions that I used to came up with. I felt a deep connection with myself and my life, and it wanted me to ask questions.
This was my humble attempt at recreating it MINIMALLY. I miss my grandmothers, I would have enjoyed asking them home remedies for my ever lasting common cold. Instead, I am racking through online pages for one. I wish I could have spent some more years with them. Adult grandchildren do need their grandparents no matter how many times they ask you to wear a scarf to cover yourself. Haha!
INGREDIENTS
¼ cup siru paruppu
3 cups water
¼cup tightly packed pounded Jaggery + ¼ loosely packed pounded jaggery.
2 medium cardamom pods with seeds, pounded
2 T grated coconut, in a traditional handheld grater(take a pic of it).
½cup low fat cow’s milk
1T room remprareture ghee. It was raining when I made this. Ghee was grainy as a result.
8 cashews halves.
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS
Prep time : 10 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Pressure cooker used: Indian
1. Rinse the gram in room temperature water once.
2. Add it to a small pressure cooker with three cups of water and cook for three whistles. Alternately, you can cook the grams in a regular pot which would be a slower method.
3. Switch off the stove, let the steam settle and open the cooker after 5 minutes.
4. Take a cup of water from the pressure cooker, dissolve jaggery in it and strain off the dirt. Add this jaggery-water back into the cooker. Please note: siru paruppu would be disintegrated at this stage. They are delicate grams.
5. Add grated jaggery and pounded cardamom pods. Cook for 5 minutes. Cook longer if you want the consistency to be thicker.
6. Add the milk. Turn off the flame right after the payasam starts to bubble (boil) on a low flame.
7. Heat ghee in a small sauce pan on slow flame and fry cashew until deep golden brown and add to payasam. Don’t forget to give it a stir!
RECIPE NOTES
1. Fry siru paruppu for more flavourful payasam.
2. Traditionally paasi paruppu is added instead of cashews. They have become more expensive than almonds these days!
*Coconut adds crunch and Milk adds intensity to the payasam.
Which payasam is your favourite? Perhaps the classic milk one?
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