Pradhaman is a popular payasam (pudding) served as a dessert in traditional Kerala feasts. This delicious treat is made with rice, jaggery and coconut milk.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Passive Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups jaggery
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 11/2 cup thin coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons cashew nuts
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 2 tablespoons coconut chips
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4-5 SPRIG whole green cardamoms

Directions

• Wash the rice and soak it in water for 10 minutes. Pressure-cook the rice with a little more than double amount of water
• You should slightly overcook it; when you press a rice bead between your thumb and index finger it should easily get smashed
• Add jaggery to a sauce pan, melt it to a thick sauce by stirring with a little water on a low flame; ensure there are no lumps in it
• Bring to boil and switch off (strain it through a sieve to get rid of any stones in the jaggery)
• Transfer the cooked rice and jaggery sauce to a pan, add a tablespoon or two of ghee and mix well
• Reduce on a medium flame while stirring frequently; cook until most of the water content is reduced and the rice gets sticky and starts coming off from sides of the pan
• Now add the thin coconut milk (second extract) mix well and reduce on a medium flame
• If you want the Pradhaman to be really thick, reduce till it’s almost dry
• In the meantime, heat some ghee in a pan and fry the coconut chips
• When they start turning brown, add the cashews and raisins; fry for one more minute to golden brown, switch off and keep it aside
• It’s difficult to grind cardamom in small quantities; so grind cardamom with some sugar in a mixer
• By now the Pradhaman in the pan would have reduced to your required consistency; now add the thick coconut milk (first extract), stir well and cook for a couple more minutes
• You don’t have to bring this to boil; switch off, garnish with the fried coconut chips, cashew, raisins and a dusting of the cardamom-sugar powder
• Serve hot

Ideally, Pradhaman should be served on the same banana leaf towards the end of the Onam Sadya; alternatively, you could serve it in mugs/glasses as well.

Recipe and photo courtesy of www.takeiteasychef.com