Nei payasam recipe

how-to-make-nei-payasam

Nei payasam is a tasty payasam recipe.  It is a special sweet dish which is prepared as Neivedhyam in Kerala.  This payasam is very famous in temples of Kerala.  It is a tasty combination of rice, jaggery, ghee and grated coconut.  This payasam is a treat for all payasam lovers.  Moreover, it is very easy to prepare too.  I prepared this today for vishu sadya and thought of celebrating it here.  nei means ghee in Malayalam meaning, this payasam has a lot of ghee added to it.

I have followed an easy method for making this payasam by cooking rice in a pressure cooker.  But the payasam really tastes great when cooked in an urulli.  This payasam has a deep brown color which usually comes from jaggery.  The color of the payasam changes depending on the color of the jaggery.  ‘

unakkalari or short grain rice gives this payasam a nice taste but long grained rice like basmati rice will not give this payasam its authentic taste.

Nei payasam recipe 

Ingredients 

  • raw rice – 1/2 cup
  • jaggery syrup – 1/2 – 3/4 cup
  • grated coconut – 3/4 cup
  • ghee – 2 tablespoons
  • dry ginger powder – a pinch
  • water – 2 cups
  • cashew – 3 – 4
  • raisins – 3 – 4
  • cardamom powder – 1/4 teaspoon

how to make nei payasam 

1. Rinse the rice well in water.  Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.  Wait till the pressure subsides.  Mash the rice well with the back of a ladle.

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2.  In a heavy bottomed pan, add jaggery and 1/4 cup of water.  When the jaggery melts completely, strain it to remove the impurities.  Clean the vessel and pour te strained jaggery syrup back into the same vessel.

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3.  Let this jaggery syrup boil for some time till it starts thickening.  Add the mashed rice to the jaggery syrup and mix well for a few minutes.  Add grated coconut and mix well.

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4.   Add 2 tablespoons of ghee, mix well.  Keep stirring until payasam starts thickening and starts leaving te sides of the pan.  Don’t cook for a long time.  Turn off the flame.

5.  Add 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan.  Add cashew, and fry till it starts changing color.  Transfer it to a plate.  Add raisins and fry till it puffs up.  Transfer it to a plate.  In the same pan, add coconut bits and fry till it becomes golden brown color. Transfer it to a plate along with cashew and raisins.

6.  Add the roasted ingredients to the payasam along with cardamom powder, and dry ginger powder.  Mix well.

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nei-payasam-recipe