Paal Payasam

Kerala carnival is just a day away…. Wasn’t it only a few days ago that we celebrated our previous Onam?? I found asking myself and I know it sounds rather stupid…. But I really can’t help myself asking how fast time flees…how fast days go by?? Infact bringing quickly before us yet another Onam…another season of ecstasy, joviality and celebrations; fortunately something to spread the ultimate spirit of love and brother hood by making them unite in such gaiety and thereby setting an example to the “evils of humanity” existing in this contemporary society. Well, now let’s not talk about those nuisances on this occasion; occasion which calls for only happiness and festivity…. Let’s just forget all our grief and discontent and celebrate this Onam with max’m pomp and splendor, making it something to be cherished even after years to come…. :-)

Onam, as u know, is the season of happiness and celebrations…an occasion welcoming the forthcoming days of opulence and biding farewell to the hard times gone by. The season actually generates a nostalgic touch during the whole period making you go back to your childhood days. A few scenes from those days; for instance, plucking flowers from the garden with your cousins in the early mornings, setting an amateurish pookkalam to be later rearranged and made beautiful by amma and aunts, trying to play out and enjoy the short-lived ten days vacation to the maximum with your cousins and friends, trying to consume maximum qty of crispy upperi and sharkkaravaratti (seasonal savouries) freshly made by grandma, visualizing yourself in your new dress to be worn on Thiruvonam and showing it off to your cousins on the big day; and finally on the big day, setting the pookkalam along with Onathappan and finishing off the day with an absolutely filling yummy meal with umpteen curries set on a banana leaf. Sigh!!! How much I miss those days…. And frankly, I feel in today’s scenario, Onam celebration is just confined to secluded apartment rooms, getting a few new dresses from leading textile shops (nothing unusual about it), ordering a readymade take away sadhya from a leading catering service and in the meantime, idling away to the latest blockbusters aired simultaneously…forcing you enough to surf channels and fight for the remote…and finally, not to mention the happy looks on the working class faces to enjoy a few days off from the bugging bosses…. :-)

I guess I’m deviating from the topic. So, coming to the topic, as I said earlier, Onam is almost round the corner and I was sitting there pondering about blogging about an exclusive sadhya dish recipe; when it dawned upon me that I have actually posted quite a few sadhya recipes in my blog. And furthermore, my obstinate wish to really share something unique with you all for this Onam made me finally settle on something extraordinary and relishing…something that’d give you that “kick” after having that rather scrumptious heavy ona sadhya…. Yes…the one and only Ona payasam…. Something that would make even your crammed tummies to adjust itself and leave that little extra space for the King of all desserts. ;-)

Talking about payasams, no kerala sadhya is complete without serving atleast one payasam. Be it paal payasam or sharkkara payasam or both, Keralites’, irrespective of age bar, are in fact die-hard fans of payasams. However, making payasam is not easy as it sounds and tastes. As a child, I never cared about the efforts my amma and grandma took to make yummy payasams for us. And even now on occasions, I subtly hand over the payasam making job to amma, who does it gracefully and with patience. Something we lack nowadays…. :) Yes, honestly, payasam making was indeed a tedious task for me…. But not till I stumbled upon this easy version of Payasam in this site. I simply gave it a try and was really worth it. A million thanx to the author from me and my amma (a great payasam lover) who now makes it every other day. And frankly, this payasam really reminds me of the famous Ambalapuzha paal payasam.



So, here’s how u get a very simple and tasty paal payasam within no time at all….

You’d require
½ cup of Chemba rice (Onakkalari)
1½ ltrs (3 packets) of Milk
1 cup or more of Sugar
A few Cardamom pods
Cashews and Raisins for garnishing
1 tbsp of Ghee

Method:-

1)Wash the rice well a couple of times.
2)Take a pressure cooker and clean it well.
3)Throw in the washed rice into it followed by the fresh milk and sugar.
5)Close the cooker and keep it on flame.
6)Cook till you hear the first whistle.
7)Then, immediately, reduce the flame to minimum and allow it to cook for 20 minutes.
8)After that, switch off the flame.
9)Open the cooker when the pressure is all gone.
10)If you find it more diluted than expected, you can keep it on flame again and boil, till you get the desired consistency. Anyway, do not reduce it much as it tends to become thick as it sits.
11)Powder the cardamom seeds in a mixer grinder along with a few tbsp of sugar.
12)Add it to the payasam.
13)Garnish with cashews and raisins fried in ghee.

Note:- I suggest you to go for a trial before you make it on the big day. Click here for the palada version. And pls do not use semiya as a substitute, coz you’d rather end up with a semiya pudding instead. Been there and done that…. And that was the result….:(

Listing out a few plus points on this recipe:-
a) It is absolutely easy to make with minimal efforts and ingredients. It requires no long standings over the kitchen-stove stirring continuously, aching and sweating all over…
b) The only thing you’d require would be a timer or a stop watch to check the reqd time.
c) You can leave the pressure cooker on and carry on cooking other dishes in the meantime…. You can also sneak a quick look into the living room to watch your favourite movie on TV. :)
d) You don’t get that pink hue in the conventional method; however hard you may stir it and condense it. But on the other hand, upon pressure cooking, you’d get that pinkish creamy texture even without adding a drop of readymade condensed milk.
e) This one definitely saves a quite a lot of time and energy thereby making your sadhya absolutely magnificent.
f) I suggest you refrigerate it and serve chilled for better tastes.

So, there you are!!! An easy and tasty payasam ready within minutes to be served onto the banana leaf on the grand occasion. A must try for all payasam lovers…

So, start singing to our old Onapattu and enjoy this Onam with an absolutely delicious payasam….

“Maveli naduvanidum kaalam
Manushyarellavarum onnu pole
Amodhathode vasikkum kaalam
Apathengarkkumotilla thanum
Kallavum illa chathiyum illa
Ellolamilla poli vachanam
Kallam parayum cherunazhiyum
Kallatharangal mattonnumilla”

Hope we get to see an era in future, which depicts the above lines…. Something really too much to long for?? Have a faint ray of hope, though!! :)

So, on that note, happy cooking for Onam!!!

And a word to all the serene readers…. I’d like to thank you for the patience shown to read this rather loooooong n dragging write up. :-)

“Wising you all a very Happy Onam”

Chakka Varattiyathu

Think I made you nostalgic, didn’t I?? An evoking journey to the good old days of childhood at your paternal-maternal residence on vacation with your grandparents…and you, swiftly, yet meticulously chomping through a good helping of chakka varattiyathu after completing that appetizing naadan lunch/dinner; tenderly being served in your plates by your grandma….Well, this is exactly the scene that flashes through my mind whenever this exotic dish is talked about even in mere conversations. And even now as I write this, for a moment, I too am being taken back to that absolutely wonderful and carefree era…. Really makes me go back to those days and relive those moments…don’t u feel the same too??

Well, lemme come back to the present…:) To talk about Chakka varattiyathu, it is an extremely popular name in Kerala households…indeed an exclusive Kerala delicacy thereby exhibiting the class and style of Kerala cuisine universally too….As who would have ever thought about churning out a lip-smacking jam with the fleshy jackfruits?? Though the only problem seems to be the fact that we can’t make this jam accdg to our time and moods mainly coz of the seasonal availability of jackfruits. So, if you are indeed a great fan of this dish and would like to make it on your own instead of going for readymade ones, get some good fleshy jackfruits when in season and make up a yummy jackfruit jam to store it for a very very long time.

So, here’s how the authentic recipe for Chakka Varattiyathu goes…. A must try for at least once…

You’d require
A kg of Ripe jackfruit fleshy pieces popularly known as Chakka chola in Malayalam
500 gm or more/less of Jaggery(Sharkkara)
1 tsp powdered Dry ginger(Chukku)
5 – 6 nos of Cardamom
1 tsp powdered Cumin seeds (optional)
5 tbsp Ghee

Method:-
1)Cook the jackfruit pieces in a pressure cooker along with around 2 glasses of water up to 2 - 3 whistles.
2)Allow it to cool and grind it in a mixer grinder making sure that there are no lumps or pieces in it.
3)Place sharkkara along with 2 glasses of water on medium flame and stir well to dissolve it. Filter using a strainer. Keep aside.
4)Heat a thick bottomed vessel. Usually big Uralis are used for this.
5)Stir in the mashed jackfruit and the jaggery solution into it.
6)Mix well on a low flame.
7)Add ghee occasionally, stirring continuously as well.
8)Stir well till the water content gets evaporated completely.
9)When it thickens well, add the powdered dry ginger, powdered cumin seeds and powdered cardamom and mix well.
10)Allow it to cool thoroughly.
11)Store in airtight containers or bharanis for long life shelves. If you are making in small quantities, you can store it in small airtight containers and refrigerate it.




And beware “workaholic housewives” and “make a curry in a hurry guys” as this dish is definitely not meant for you…coz it is not that easy to make as the name and the procedure implies. You’d definitely require long standings in the kitchen and so, do try this only if you have ample time to spare. Hey…don’t scowl and get disappointed…. :( Cheer up coz after considering the bright side of it, your face is gonna be something like this….:D And so, don't worry as after all that sweating and bustling in the kitchen, I’m sure the luscious jackfruit jam you have in your hands wud be definitely worth all those efforts…. Coz the good thing is that we can store this jam in airtight utensils, which can be used later in cooking for multi-uses.

To begin with, just try imagining the yummy jackfruit jam you’d be having as a light dessert after a heavy meal….:) You can even stuff your kids’ snack boxes with breads or chappathis rolled up with a generous spread of this jam and light up their faces too….:) And you can also make Chakka ada as an evening snack or even as a light breakfast…. Or you can even have it as a light accompaniment with Puttu…hard to believe??? Well, I’ve come across a few who do so…and it tastes good too…. :) And of course, you can also add a small portion of this chakka jam in Sharkkara Payasams and Unnippams to enhance its’ taste and flavor. A small secret shared by cooking experts themselves…. :)

So, there you are…. The time and energy you are just gonna spend on this is not going to be futile as they shall definitely come handy in the long run. And I believe there are a few things or efforts in our lives which epitomizes this simple point. I always believe we shud constantly think about the fruitfulness or productivity of a particular effort before you leap into it…just to make sure your efforts don’t go in vain and you are not left thwarted at the end of it….Do I sound like a pessimist?? I hope not…. :)

So, on that optimistic note, happy cooking!!!