Pasiparuppu payasam / Moong dal kheer

Moong Dal/Pasiparuppu Payasam is commonly found in every south Indian home during festivals or auspicious days. Simple to make and rich in taste makes it a quick inclusion in almost every festive occasion. Jaggery and dal cooked up nice and soft and topped up with homemade ghee and fried cashews and coconut bits ............hmmmm the thought of it makes me drool. The texture is perfect for a payasam and is sure to bring a smile on your face when you eat it

The best part is that I feel it is healthy unlike other payasam because of the goodness of moong dal and usage of jaggery instead of sugar. It does not make you feel very heavy after eating this dessert. So just to have a light and simple dessert this option lends a good hand

I have always loved this when my mom used to make for us so no wonder the recipe was carried over to my kitchen and dwells there since then. 

Serves... 4-6 ppl

Serve option... Warm

This is what u'll need....

Split Moong Dal - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom/Elaichi powder - 1/8 tspn
Milk - 1/2 cup
Cashews - 5 nos
Coconut bits - 1 tbspn
Ghee - 2 tbspn

Here is the stir....

• Dry roast the split moong dal in a pressure cooker or a heavy bottomed vessel. Continue stirring on low to medium flame till it completely releases its raw smell

• Wash the dal and add 2 cups of water to it

• Pressure cook the dal till tender and soft - about 2-3 whistle and then simmer for about a minute or 2

• Once the pressure cooker cools down a bit and has released all the pressure, open it and give it a nice stir when it is hot. This helps in making the texture smooth and avoids any dal lumps in the payasam

• Next measure jaggery. Add this to a separate pan with a little water and heat it to melt it down. Use your spatula to gently press the jaggery and help with  the melting. Once everything has melted, pour it through a tea strainer and filter it for any impurities

• In case you get jaggery like I get here you can skip this step and go ahead with this. Give the jaggery a quick smush with something heavy so that it breaks down to small pieces. The jaggery that I buy never has any impurities so I have stopped the process of melting and filtering which I used to do initially

• Add the jaggery or the syrup to the cooked dal and mix it thoroughly to ensure there are no lumps. The mixture should have become a little runny now

• Sprinkle cardamom powder and give a quick stir. Pour milk and cook for a minute

• Fry cashews and raisins in a tablespoon of ghee. Transfer this to the payasam bowl

• Chop coconut into small bits and then fry in the remaining ghee

• Add this to the payasam and mix everything well 

• Serve warm and enjoy the Payasam

Note:

• Cook till the dal is soft and tender so that payasam gets a silky texture in the end
• Make sure to whisk/mash the dal after opening the cooker and when it is still hot. This helps in avoiding lumps in the payasam
• Adjust jaggery to suit your taste