Pasiparupu - Semiya Payasam / Moong dal - Vermicelli Payasam

Payasam / Kheer is one of the popular and traditional sweet which is prepared mostly during festival season or on special occasions. Though there are different varieties of payasam, semiya paal payasam and parupu payasam are the most famous payasam in Tamil Nadu. In my today's recipe, I have included moong dal to the regular paal payasam to give a delicious twist and taste. Roasting Moong dal in a ghee enhances the taste and also gives a lovely aroma.

Ingredients :

1/4 Cup Moong dal 
1/2 Cup Semiya / Vermicelli 
2 Cups Milk 
1/2 Cup Sugar 
3 Tsp Ghee + 2 Tbsp Ghee
5 Cashews 
6 - 7 Raisins 
1 Elachi, crushed 

Method :

Heat 2 Tsp ghee and add semiya / vermicelli.

Roast it until it gets a light golden brown and remove from the flame.

Now add the remaining 1 tsp ghee to the same pan and add moong dal.

Roast till the aroma comes out and add 1 1/2 cups of water.

When the dal gets almost cooked, add roasted vermicelli and mix well.

Add 2 cups of Milk and cook until the semiya becomes soft.

Add the measured sugar and cook until it dissolves.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp ghee in a pan and add cashews followed by raisins and elachi.

Roast and add it to the payasam.

Serve hot or cold.

Notes :

1. Payasam will become thick when it cools down, so add extra milk before serving.

2. Apart from cashews and raisins, grated badam and melon seeds can also be added.

3. Instead of adding crushed elachi, elachi powder can also be added.

4. To make the payasam more creamy and rich, substitute sugar with Milkmaid. 

Watermelon Rind Kheer / 5 Ingredients Fix Challenge

 Watermelon is one of our family's favorite fruit and it is bought home every week. While removing fruit for juice, I used to clean and store the leftover rind (white part) for regular cooking. I used to prepare Kootu, Sambhar and Kara kuzhambu with this healthy part of watermelon. Yeah ! It is very healthy as it comes under water vegetables like white pumpkin, bottle gourd... Last week, Instead of regular menu, tried kheer with these rind using only 5 Ingredients for one of my favorite challenge "5 Ingredient Fix Challenge" hosted by Lakshmi Vimala from cookingclub17. Our september month challenge was sweet recipe with exact 5 Ingredients of our own as part of Onam Celebration. As we all knew that Payasam / kheer is the important sweet for Onam celebration, so for a twist used watermelon rind in payasam / kheer.
It tasted very delicious and felt excited to see my hubby's reaction after his first sip. It was very creamy and delicious. Every sip tasted yum yum with a mild flavor of watermelon. As per challenge, we have to use only 5 ingredients for our recipe so added only cashews in this kheer. Variations and Improvisation can be done by adding pista, elachi, raisins and saffron. Instead of cooking in microwave, you can add water after sauteing in ghee and cook it for 5 minutes in a simmer flame.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cup Watermelon Rind, grated
• 1 Cup Milk, Boiled
• 1/2 Cup Condensed Milk
• 10 Cashew Nuts, broken into pieces
• 2 Tbsp Ghee

Method :

• Microwave watermelon rind for 3-4 minutes and keep aside.

• Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp ghee in a pan and add cooked watermelon rind.

• Saute and cook for 5 minutes in a lower flame.

• Add boiled milk and let it for boil.

• Now add milkmaid and mix well.

• Simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until it gets thicken.

• Meanwhile, heat remaining ghee and fry cashew pieces.

• Add the fried cashews to kheer and remove from the flame. Serve.

Serving Options :

Serve hot or cold.

Note :
Since I am linking this recipe with 5 Ingredient challenge, I have used only 5 ingredients. The same recipe can also be improvised by adding extra nuts and raisins according to taste buds and creativity.

Linking this recipe with  Lakshmi's "5 Ingredients Fix Challenge"

Linking this recipe with mykitchenodyssey's " First Anniversary Giveaway ".

Badam Flavored Fruit Salad / Raksha Bandan Special

Raksha bandan or Rakhi Poornima is a special day to celebrate a love between Brother and Sister. On this special day, sisters tie rakhi on brothers wrist to express their love and in return brothers take pledge to protect his sister in all circumstances and express it by giving a special gifts. That is why, it is called "Knot of protection".

 I am very blessed to have a lovely brother who takes care of me very much. Though he is younger than me, the way he protects me in all circumstances was like my elder brother. We fight a lot, We argue a lot, We tease a lot but our love on each other still remain the same. Couple of years back celebrated Raksha Bandan by preparing his favorite food, so that at least he can enjoy them virtually.

Check out my 2012 Rakhi special posts:

Pavaka Chips / Bitter gourd Chips

Garlic Chutney

Urad Dal Curd Kuzhambu

Wheat Bread Jamun

Unfortunately, we did not meet this time to celebrate Raksha Bandan, so prepared few recipes of his most favorites and shared him virtually on Raksha Bandan day.

So, Now you all know whats gonna be my upcoming posts :)

Here is my special yummy Dessert Brother :) Enjoy and Happy Raksha Bandan :)

Fruit Salad is an easy and healthy dessert which is served in most of the parties. It is a kid friendly recipe and lots of fruits can be included along with lots of dry fruits to make it rich and more healthy. This is my special recipe too because my son involved in each and every step of preparation from washing the fruits to placing it in the fridge. 

Ingredients :

• 6 Pomegranate
• 5 Apples
• 5 Bananas
• 400 ml Milkmaid
• 1/4 Cup Badam Health Drink mix
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Pistachio
• 1/2 Cup Tutti Frutti + 1 Tbsp for Garnishing

Method :

• Boil milk and keep aside. 

• Wash apples and chop them into small pieces.

• Peel the Bananas and chop them into small pieces.

• Cut the pomegranate and remove the seeds. ( Normally,I use ladle to tap and remove the seeds).

• Take 1/4 cup of Badam drink mix and add the boiled milk.

• Mix well and keep aside.

• Now pour milkmaid in a small bowl and add the badam milk. Mix well.

• Add all the chopped fruits in a big bowl and add the badam milkmaid.

• Add pistachio and Tutti Frutti.

• Mix well and refrigerate it. 

• Remove after 3-4 hours and pour it in a tall galss.

• Garnish with Tutti Frutti and serve chill.

Serving Options :

Serve chill with any flavored Ice cream.

Note : 

• Any health drink can be used instead of Badam drink mix.

• Extra fruits can also be added of your choice.

Linking this recipe with Gayathri's "WTML"