Ada pradhaman (Serves 12)

Another “sweet” treat from us and one of my favorite among payasams.. Be it a festive occasion or special day, this used to be a regular in our house when it comes to Payasam. This payasam is best when consumed along with “cheru pazham” and “pappadam” and I have a lot of nostalgic memories associated with the same. We hope you all will enjoy making this dessert as much as we did…

Rice ada 200g
Jaggery 500g
Coconut milk 2 cups each of 1st, 2nd milk and 1 cup of 3^rd milk from 3 whole coconuts. Grate the coconut and extract the thin and thick milk.
Ghee 4 TBSP
Chowari (sabudana) 2 tsp
Cardamom 2-3 nos
Cashews, raisin and coconut slices to fry in Ghee
Water 400 mL

Preparation

In a wide mouth pan, boil 400 mL water. Once boiling, add the ada and cook until softened and cooked completely. ENSURE ADA IS COOKED WELL AS IT WILL NOT GET COOKED IN THE JAGGERY MIX. Rinse ada well in cold water, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the chowari/sabudana in a cup of water until its transparent, keep aside. Dissolve jaggery in ½ to ¾ cup water and strain through a muslin cloth to remove any mud particles.

Fry the cashews, raisins and coconut slices in little ghee and set aside.

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and add strained jaggery and allow to boil. Once boiling add the cooked, rinsed ada along with cooked chowari and stir continuously in low flame until the ada-jaggery mixture starts to clump together (like a varatti form). Now add the third coconut milk and simmer until thickened. Subsequently add the second coconut milk, bring to a boil and at the end add first coconut milk and let the payasam heat through. DO NOT LET IT BOIL. Switch off flame, add the cardamom and fried cashews, raisins and coconut slices. Enjoy!!!

Notes: If you want, before cooking ada, you may run that through a blender to get smaller pieces.