In Love with Ravana

The news spread like wildfire – their beloved king Ravana had captured a beautiful lady from the forest and kept her in custody. Mahiti could not believe that! How can the king do that? What made him consider a lady, a married one, as per the rumours, from the forest as his future wife? That too, when the lady seems to be not interested at all! Will he force himself on her? Will she finally agree? A thousand questions rushed into her mind within moments!

Making the King of Payasams

I just realized that I never posted the recipe for my favourite and masterpiece Palada Payasam! So here it goes!!!

Before the recipe, some interesting information

Palada Pradhaman is considered the ultimate and top-most popular Payasam in Kerala. It is entirely made of milk, rice flakes called ada and sugar. Some put poovan pazham or small yellow bananas to thicken it. Of course, they add a different flavour. Palada used to be a delicacy served only during special occasions such as grand weddings, feasts, Onam sadhya etc. I am told that Ada Pradhaman, its original version, is made of coconut milk and jaggery replacing milk and sugar. The Ada or the Rice Flakes are made of a thin batter of raw rice batter spread evenly on a plantain leaf, steamed to cook and made into small pieces by pressing the cooked ada through a sieve. Its a painstaking process simplified by the readymade ada now we get to buy in supermarkets. Though I don’t get paid for endorsements, I prefer to use the thinner version of Ada available from Double Horse or Priya brands. The others are either too thick or melt when boiled, spoiling the consistency of the Payasam! You are free to try them though!

I won’t claim that this is the original and ultimate Palada Payasam recipe. But this is how I make it and its a much-loved version my family and friends love. So here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 Litre Milk (I prefer Amul Gold Tetrapack)

1 tin condensed milk (any brand would do)

Sugar (around 2 kgs depending on your capacity)

Water (only to make the sugar syrup)

Ripe small bananas (Poovan Pazham to be precise) – This is optional and you can avoid if you are not sure of the banana variety.

Ghee – a couple of teaspoons, just for a flavour and smell (again optional)

The quintessential Rice Ada (1 packet 200 gm)

 

And we are ready to go!

First of all, take a thick-bottom vessel to boil the milk. Keep stirring the milk throughout the payasam making process.

Payasam being made in Uruli

 

Traditionally, a bronze vessel called Uruli used to be the quintessential vessel to make payasam. It is a heavy wide-mouthed vessel Keralites prefer even now for making Payasam.

 

 

By the time the milk boils, wash the rice ada and strain it. Keep it aside till the milk boils.

Once the milk is boiled, add the washed and strained Rice Ada and let it cook in the boiling milk. It’s going to take around 15 minutes for the Ada to cook. Till then, keep stirring.

In the meantime, make thick sugar syrup out of 1.5 kgs of sugar. Strain the impurities and keep the somewhat thick sugar syrup ready (slightly thicker than your Gulab Jamun syrup consistency).

Once the Ada cooks (you can scoop out a spoonful and press it to know if its cooked), add the condensed milk. Don’t try to save or savour the last few spoons of the can! Add a little boiling water, mix it and empty the can into the payasam!

Keep stirring the now thickening Payasam. The colour would have started changing now.

Now add a couple of teaspoons of Ghee and the banana pieces (one or two at the most!)

Slowly add the sugar syrup. Be careful during this process as the payasam has a tendency to boil over. So add the syrup slowly and carefully, while keep stirring.

You have now done your bit to make the Payasam look and taste yummy! All you need to do is to check and adjust the sugar level (you may add crystal sugar to make it slightly sweeter) and consistency. Let it boil (while you keep stirring it) and get thick as long as you want.

See, didn’t I tell you its not rocket science!!! Ideally, it takes about 1.5 hours for yummy Palada Payasam to get ready. At least, that’s how long it takes for me to make.

I know the Diwali season is over. But you can try it offseason and surprise your loved ones for the next festival! Don’t forget to share how it came out.

PLEASE NOTE – NO CARDAMOM, NO NUTS OR RAISINS PLEASE!!! I haven’t missed out on any ingredient. This is how they make Palada Payasam and trust me it tastes heavenly without any flavourings or garnish.