Pineapple Payasam

Ingredients

Pineapple – 1 ½ cups, thinly diced

Jaggery – 1 cup, grated

Sago (Chowari) – 1 cup

Thin Coconut milk – 1 ½ cups

Thick Coconut milk – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Cardamom powder – a pinch (optional)

Ghee – 1 tablespoon

Cashew nuts – 8 nos

Method

Cook the diced pineapple in water until it is soft. Drain the water in the pineapple and smash it with a spoon. Boil sago in water for 10 minutes. Wash the cooked sago in cold water. Melt the jaggery in a little water. Strain to remove the dusts. Add cooked pineapple and melted jaggery in a vessel. Add thin coconut milk and allow it to boil for 10 minutes. Put the cooked sago and mix well. Add cardamom powder. Pour thick coconut milk and stir well. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashews. Garnish the pineapple payasam with cashews. Have it after a yummy sadya!!

Notes: - It is better to cook pineapple in a pressure cooker as it takes long time to be soft.

Ulli Choru / Shallot Rice

Ingredients

Shallots – 10 nos, thinly sliced

White Rice / Ponni Rice – 1 cup, cooked

Ginger – ½ inch piece, thinly sliced

Salt to taste

Ghee – 1 tablespoon

Method

Heat ghee in a pan. Fry shallots and ginger until light brown. At this point in time, add salt. The salt helps the shallots to be crispy. Combine the fried mixture and cooked rice. Add salt if required. Serve hot!

Raw Mango / Pacha manga Chammanti

Ingredients

Coconut – 1 ½ cup, grated

Raw mango – 1 cup, small cubed pieces

Salt to taste

Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves – 4 leaves

Shallots – 3 nos

Coconut oil – 1 teaspoon

Method

Grind coconut, chilli powder, mango pieces and salt in a blender without water. Add shallots and curry leaves and just crush it together with the blended coconut mixture. Add coconut oil and mix well with a spoon. Serve with hot rice!

Pal Payasam / Rice Kheer

Ingredients

Broken Rice/ Podi ari – 1 cup

Milk – 3 cups

Sugar – ¾ cup

Cardamom powder – a pinch

Water – 2 cups

Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Cashew nuts – a few

Method

Boil water in a pressure cooker and add the washed rice. Pressure cook up to 3 whistles and low flame for 5 minutes. Open the lid once the pressure in the cooker goes out completely. Pour the milk in a vessel and add sugar to it. Bring it to boil. Add the cooked rice to the boiling milk and stir well. Boil for 5-10 minutes. If the payasam is too thick, add some more boiled milk. Add cardamom powder. Heat ghee and fry the cashews. Add fried cashews to the payasam. Enjoy the yummy payasam!!

Notes – If the milk is too thick, you can add a little water when boil the milk. You can use condensed milk in the final step. Usually pal payasam does not need cashews or raisins.