Hope everyone had a fabulous Tamil New Year. Payasam is a dessert that is made during festivals, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It is one of those easy desserts that do not need any babysitting and that explains why it is so common in South India. I was not planning on making dessert today, but managed to pull it off while the vadais were being deep fried.
Aval is flattened rice and is also known as poha. It cooks pretty fast and the payasam has more texture than the usual vermiccilli payasam. You can keep it thick or add more milk and dilute to the desired consistency. You can taste the richness from ghee with each spoonful. Overall a simple and tasty dessert. Off to the recipe.
Aval Payasam
Easy and tasty dessert with flattened rice.
Ingredients:
- ghee - 1 tbsp
Homemade ghee can be made following this link
- cashews - few - broken into small pieces
- raisins - few
- aval - 1 cup (flattened rice/poha)
- milk - 2 - 3 cups - I used fat free
- sugar - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
- cardamom - 1 - powder the seeds and keep aside
Instructions:
Roast the cashews and raisins in ghee and keep aside. To the same pan add aval and roast until it turns golden brown.
Add the milk and allow the aval to cook. When it is soft and cooked, add sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Next add the cashews, raisins and cardamom powder and turn the stove off.
Add more milk if needed.
1. The payasam thickens on standing. Add more milk if needed before serving.
1 year ago: Scallion Cilantro Scones
2 years ago: Making Yogurt at Home
Pictorial
1. Add ghee to a pan and roast the cashews and raisins until the cashews are golden brown. Remove and keep aside.
2. To the same pan, add the aval.
3. Roast until the aval turns golden brown.
4. Add 2 cups of milk and allow the aval to cook.
5. Aval is cooked.
6. Add sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
7. Add the cashews, raisins and cardamom powder.
8. Mix and serve. Add more milk if needed.
Tasty dessert ready.
Enjoy!
 Payasam on http://cooksjoy.com/blog "Pin It")
Delicious looking payasam and lovely clicks dear
Looks delicious, beautifully presented too!
Wow looks delicious, beautifully presented too!
Yummy payasam…
I absolutely love payasam but have never tried it with poha.
payasam looks yummy, never made with poha, and wish u a very happy new year….
New year wishes Vardhini, Payasam looks fabulous and super creamy.
hello Dear, here’s a question from Poland
it looks so yummy and i’d love to try but here’s a problem: can i replace flattened rice somehow? or should i blend rice?there’s no possibility to buy it 
You can use rice instead. It just takes longer to cook than flattened rice. Here is the link to the one made using rice.
http://cooksjoy.com/blog/2011/06/paalmilk-payasam.html