Cooking web notes

Hello everyone ! Thanks a ton for the birthday wishes !! I had a great day (but a busy one !) I wasn't sure what to treat myself with on my birthday until I talked to Sunitha :-) Thanks a lot buddy ! She convinced me it has to be payasam especially since we do not have one on our blog. Either ways, for all the four birthdays at home I make this payasam, 99 % ! This is a favorite and even the lil imp will finish off a bowl full.


There is one more reason for sharing this sweet dish with you..Our site has crossed 10K hits in less than 4 months. We can't tell you how happy we are.Thanks for the support and encouragement.

I have made this umpteen times, but this is the first time that I measured each and every ingredient,wanting to share it with you. My recipe is slightly different from what I have seen around and I hope you will love it as much as my family and I do .



Ingredients

Vermicelli/Semiya- 1/2 cup
Ghee-2 Tsp+ 2 Tsp
Milk- 1 1/2 cup + 2 1/2 cup
Water- 1/2 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder- 1/2 Tsp
Cashews- 2 Tbsp
Raisins -1 Tbsp


Method :

1.Heat 2 Tsp ghee in a deep and thick bottom pan.Throw in the vermicelli anf fry till it is golden brown in color.
2. Pour in 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup of water and allow to boil.
3.Lower the heat and let the vermicelli get cooked well.Stir in between. It takes almost 10-12 minutes.
4.By this time almost all the water content will be dried, do not add more water or milk at this point.
5.Add sugar and start stirring continuously, on low heat.Continue this till all the water gets evaporated and the mixture gets thickened.While stirring if you are able to see the path of the spoon/spatula without the mixture running over there immediately, it is done. This takes ~10- 12 minutes on medium low heat.
6.Slowly add the milk into it. The point is that the boiling shouldn't get stopped while you pour the cold milk.This can be done on high heat and stirring continuously, while you add around 1/3 cup of milk at a time.
7.Once you added the milk, it should be boiled well.Pour more milk to get the desired consistency.Add the cardamom powder. Switch off the heat.
8.Heat 2 tsp ghee ina pan and fry the cahsews and raisins till golden brown, one after the other and garnish the payasam with this. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:
1.The sugar I've used will give you a moderately sweet payasam, you may add if you want your payasam more sweeter.
2.You may have to add more milk to get a desired consistency, if you are serving it later. Semiya gets thickened as it cools down.


Contributor :Namitha