Parangikkai badam kheer

Did I not tell you that my sister comes up with some fun ideas when it comes to food? She tries to add variety to everyday cooking and most times those dishes are simple to make and a small change here, an addition there makes it taste very different.
Just before Navrathri, a friend of mine left with me one whole small pumpkin before she left on a holiday. I knew that my husband is not very fond of the vegetable. Hence I saved it for an occasion to have guests, so I can finish the vegetable in one go. I planned to make a kootu; however, I was discussing my menu for a weekend lunch party with my sister and she thought I was making a long list that is going to fill my refrigerator with left overs. Both of us cut the list short enough to make the menu appear elaborate at the same time we could minimize work in the kitchen as well as left overs. That is when she suggested I make this kheer.
I was game for experiment though I warned my husband that I am trying this and he is free not to partake if he felt so.
I was in for a pleasant surprise for not just my guests, but my husband too liked it quite a lot. I had added enough almonds fearing that the taste of the vegetable will be overpowering. Surprisingly it did not; in fact, both had blended well and only upon my suggestion that people realized that it was not just badam kheer but had a vegetable base to the same.



Ingredients;
1 cup cubed pumpkin
1/4 cup ground almond powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 litre whole milk, boiled and cooled to room temperature

For garnish:
Few strands of saffron
Chopped cashews dry roasted
Chopped pistachios
Cardamom powder

Method:
Place pumpkin cubes in a bowl, add 100 millilitres milk and pressure cook until the pumpkin is well cooked.
Allow the pumpkin to cool.
Add some warm water or milk to the ground almonds.
Take both the cooked pumpkin and the soaked almond powder in the jar of the blender and puree to a very smooth liquid adding sufficient milk.
Transfer to a heavy bottom cooking utensil and top up with the rest of the milk.
Place on a very low heat and stirring continuously, allow to cook until the raw taste subsides.
Coating the rim of the utensil with a thin coat of ghee will prevent the boiling milk from spilling over. (a new tip I learnt from a guest who watched me boiling milk for coffee)
Add the sugar and cook until the sugar blends well and the kheer thickens a bit.
Allow to cool, refrigerate and serve chilled topped with the garnish of nuts, saffron and cardamom powder. You may also add almond essence if necessary.
If the kheer is very thick and a drinking consistency is desired, add sufficient milk.


There will be no unwanted hint or taste of raw vegetable and even without essence it will taste good.
I have made it the second time without almonds too. Then I left the puree a bit coarse too. It tasted good.
This is best enjoyed chilled.

Badam Kheer - a vegan version

Time and again, I set myself the task of reading the Sundara Kandam from the Valmiki Ramayana . There are a few set reading rituals as ordained by our elders viz. read all 68 chapters in one day, split them over two/three/five or nine days and so on. Recently, I did the reading and on the concluding day I desired to make some sweet and some urad dhal vadais for offering.
It so coincided that on that Saturday, I wanted to also try my hand on the 'one day vegan challenge' set by Harini.
Pondering upon the sweet dish that I might make without the use of any dairy and coconut (as I had already done an overdose of coconut usage for one day), I remembered the kadalai paruppu payasam in S. Meenakshi Ammal's Samaiththu paar volume two. That recipe uses milk and I was sure I can skip the milk and use almonds to compensate the lack of the same.
During the initial days of my working, the staff of our office preferred to party at a particular restaurant that was just a stone's throw from the office building. Mostly it was a Saturday lunch and invariably the featured sweet dish was a poor attempt at Badam Kheer, which we always detested having it there. We used to jokingly discuss the ingredients and preparation. On one such occasion one of the senior staff recognised that it had the flavour of gram flour. Then on we would joke that it was water added gramflour to which few drops of essence and food colour was added.
However, during the later years, I discovered that indeed you could make a faux badam kheer with grinding bengal gram and milk, add few drops of essence and it works!
Now I had the task of not using cow's milk on that day and I took a look at the recipe in the book.
The author had suggested that if you add a few almonds and grind it along with the channa dhal, it would taste as nearly as badam kheer which has a thin consistency, yet delicious in taste.
I set out to try the recipe substituting the cow's milk with almonds that were ground to a fine milk texture. The result was quite an amazingly rich kheer that had the real flavour of the almonds and the roasted gram. The consistency was that of a drinkable kheer, thicker than badam milk, but not quite thick as regular payasam/ kheer.
For the garnish, I dry roasted on a very low flame the chopped cashews and pistachios.



Ingredients:
1/2 cup split Bengal gram / channa dhal
1/4 cup (loosely packed) whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar (adjustable according to taste)

For garnish:
2 tablespoons chopped cashews and pistachios
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
few strands of saffron

Cooking Procedure:
Soak the almonds in very hot water for a few minutes. When the water has come to room temperature, skin the almonds and discard the water and skin.
Soak them again in one cup of very warm water.
Meanwhile, heat a pan and add the channa dhal to it. On a moderate heat, toss the dhal until it roasts to a golden brown and gives away a strong aroma.
Soak the channa dhal in another bowl in one cup of water.
When both the almonds and the dhal have cooled, grind them separately adding the same water that you soaked them in. the pastes should be very smooth and of fine texture.
Take the ground channa dhal in a bowl. Mix some water to make a very thin liquid and place this on the stove.
Also in another bowl take the ground almond milk and bring that to a boil.
Stir both the liquids frequently to avoid them getting burnt. Simmer both until the raw taste is lost.
Then mix both the liquids in one of the bowls, stir in the sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves.
Then add the cardamom powder and the saffron strands. Allow the mixture to thicken a bit.
Without any fat, dry roast the chopped nuts until they are golden.
Cool the kheer well and serve with a garnish of the nuts.
This kheer tastes best served chilled.
You may opt to cook both the liquids together, or to grind both the soaked dhal and almonds together and proceed, if making a small quantity. That saves fuel and time.

If desired, you may also add few drops of almond essence that will enhance the flavour, though it is not necessary. The roasting of the dhal and the addition of cardamom are sufficient to make this kheer delicious.
For those who would cook with milk, reduce the quantity of water that you add to either paste; but you will have to cook them well until the raw taste is lost. Add boiled milk to the cooked mix and bring to a boil with the sugar.
You may also roast the garnish with ghee or any form of fat.
My earlier post on the regular Badam Kheer can be read in this page.

Badam Kheer

I am here with yet another post and a resolve to be regular to read posts and to share mine. The past few months (read several) just went in a whirl. Days dawned and before I realised it was nightfall, so to say. Now even before you thought the year began, we have counted out sixty one days of 2011.

Today's post is one rich kheer. Every Indian home makes this if not often, on special occasions. The almonds and whole milk make it truly rich and nutritious for those who do not need to watch calories.

You just need three ingredients apart from garnish and some precious minutes of care while cooking.

The below recipe serves four and is slightly thick. If desired to have as a drink, you make add boiled and cooled milk which has been slightly sweetened to balance the addition.

Ingredients:

Almonds about 80 grams

Sugar 150 grams

Milk 500 ml + 100ml for grinding

Garnish:

Chopped mixed nuts slightly roasted

Few strands of saffron soaked in a few teaspoons of milk

Method:

Bring the milk to boil and allow to simmer for few minutes. Add to this the soaked saffron. Keep aside.

Soak the almonds in warm water for a few minutes and blanche them.

Grind the almonds to a fine paste adding milk. Rinse the jar of the blender and add the residue to the ground mixture.

Add two cups of water to the paste and place it in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Cook over a moderate flame for about 20-25 minutes stirring at regular intervals, until the paste is rid of raw taste.

Add some of the above boiled milk if the paste thickens in a hurry.

Add the boiled milk and the sugar. Allow the sugar to dissolve and the mixture to blend well.

Remove from the stove. Add the garnish.

It is best served chilled.

Parippu pradhaman for Varalakshmi pooja

My never ending quest with Tried and Tasted for the current edition brings you Parippu pradhaman from Aparna. Srivalli is hosting this event, started by Zlamushka to celebrate fellow bloggers, and has been taken over by Lakshmi. The fact is that Valli has chosen the most Diverse Kitchen, for there, you would find everything you might fancy to cook.

My usual payasam for Varalakshmi pooja would have been the undili payasam a quick make up with the ingredients that go into different items on that day's menu. It is done so for convenience and save time. This year, since my husband was away on an official trip and was expected only that evening, I set myself to prepare something more elaborate. So I prepared the parippu pradhaman looking up Aparna's recipe. I have been doing most other things that I am posting this after about a fortnight.

I had prepared the coconut milk beforehand and had powdered the jaggery too as always during festivals. So cooking the pradhaman was not a task, given the hassles of a festival day where you cooked as well as performed the pooja.

The pradhaman was creamy, rich with the coconut flavour and had just the sweetness that you may enjoy. It was the right payasam for that day as we have many other dishes on the menu that will leave you feeling full forever.

My husband reached home ravaneously hungry having skipped breakfast and eaten a meagre lunch. He felt it was such a welcoming bowl of pradhaman.

VERDICT: LIPSMACKING :) I shall pass the compliment on to Aparna.

Janmaashtami special Aval Payasam

This is long overdue as many other special recipes for Janmaashtami. We have already celebrated the Ganesh Chathurthi and a Janmaashtami recipe shows up; it is a bit ridiculous. But I was just saving this to send it for few events and so the post got lost among many others. Better late than never, so please bear with this delay and enjoy the payasam.

You will need:

1/4 cup (50 grams) of thick variety aval/poha/ beaten rice

1/2 cup sugar

300ml whole milk

Ghee to roast the aval

Almonds and cashews few soaked and ground to a fine paste

Few strands of saffron

1/4 teaspoon powdered cardamom

A tiny pinch of edible cooking camphor ( Pachchai Karpooram)

Toss the aval in a seive and sift the powdery impurities.

Add ghee in a pan and in warm ghee roast the aval until golden.

Cool and pulse in your mixer just to a very coarse texture. (you may retain aval in whole and cook too)

Cook the aval until soft with water.

Add the sugar and cook further until sugar melts to a syrup and blends with the cooked aval.

Add the paste and the milk and on low heat allow the milk to boil first and simmer. Thus the raw taste of almonds and cashews will also subside.

When done remove from fire and garnish with saffron strands, camphor and cardamom powder.

Offer to Sri Krishna His favourite aval.

The legend is that Krishna's childhood companion Sudhama was struggling to feed his family and upon suggestion from his wife, paid a visit to his friend. He offered aval to Krishna. In return he was blessed with riches and lived happily thereafter.

I shall love to send this aval payasam to Janmaashtami- Ganesh Chathurthi special foods event being hosted by Priti and Purva



and to

FIL - Milk hosted by Sanghi.