Blogging Marathon #138 Week 3, Day 2
Theme : A Dish for each course

We celebrated Onam recently and I had prepared a Sadya for the occasion. The payasam is one of dishes I had prepared that day. Sadya is an elaborate (mostly vegetarian) feast of Kerala, prepared and served for special occasions like weddings, festivals and many celebrations.

This year’s meal had:

1. Pavakka thair pachadi
2. Cabbage thoran
3. Avial
4. Mathan Erissery
5. Olan
6. Parippu
7. Sambar
8. Rasam
9. Kalan
10. Thair
11. Parippu Pradhaman
12. Pal payasam
13. Pappadam
14. Pazham
15. Chakka Upperi
16. Inji curry
17. Ghee
18. Rice

Funny part of the meal was that I made all the curries and side dishes and forgot to keep the rice!! So when my husband came for lunch, there was no rice to serve!! Thankfully we weren’t hungry, so waited till the rice was done and had our lunch a little later. These things only happen to me…sigh…

Pal payasam and parippu Pradhaman were the desserts for the meal. Now onto the recipe for parippu pradhaman.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Moong dal
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 1 tablespoon cashew nuts
• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 3/4 cup powdered jaggery*
• A Pinch of cardamom powder
• 1 cup canned coconut milk

Method:

• Sauté the moongdal in a pan until the color begins to change. Remove from pan, pressure cook for 3 whistles with 1 cup water.
• Once the dal is cooked and the pressure is released, heat ghee in a thick bottomed saucepan. Add the cashews and raisins. Once the raisins puff up and cashews turn golden brown, remove it to a small bowl using a slotted spoon.
• Add the cooked dal and the jaggery powder and let it cook for a couple of minutes. You can add a little water if it’s too dry.
• Now add the canned coconut milk and mix well. Let it cook until it comes to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add in the cashews and raisins. Done!

*Note: I get jaggery powder here which doesn’t have any impurities. So I don’t have to boil and filter it out.