KadalaPradhaman /Payasam/Kheer

Today i thought i can  go with something traditional.ya its Kadala Pradhaman/Kadala Payasam/Kheer. It is a traditional Kerala style payasam.The main ingredient for this kheer is splitted Bengal gram or channa dal(Chholar dal in Bengali; Buta daali in Oriya; శనగ పప్పు Shanaga pappu in Telugu; ಕಡಲೆ ಬೀಳೆ Kadale bele in Kannada; Kaḍala parippu in Malayalam;and கடலை பருப்புkaḍalai paruppu in Tamil) We usually can find this kadala pradhaman in Kerala sadhya (Kerala Feast) which would be served in most of the kerala weddings and other traditional functions such as Onam, Vishu etc..The feast comes with minimum of 3 payasam. This kadala is a one of them.

This pradhaman is my mom's favorite payasam. But I love palada & ada pradhaman, my brother likes semiya payasam (Vermicelli Kheer). My father is not so choosy he likes any food prepare  by Amma. So for any occasion, mom always prepares  either semiya or ada. Hardly give the priority to kadala payasam..Whenever she prepares this payasam in very rare occations, even though I didn't like it much, I used to have it..it has a very unique taste. 

Amma's food is always special..nothing is comparable with her food. We can have any restaurant food 4 or 5 times, after that we will get tired of that..but amma's food whatever she prepares always has a unique taste. 

Actually when i saw mother's day event i just thought about some thing I can send for the event that should be amma's favorite food.Then i tried to find out what's amma's favorite,suddenly i got this kadala pradhaman.i do remember amma  didnt cook it often..because of us only.but whever she prepare we both love to have it.Mom's always give preference to their kid's favorite foods..That is a universal truth..

This is amma's recipe.2-3 times amma explained the preparation of this pradhaman because she was not sure i am going to prepare it perfectly.With her instruction i prepared this delicious payasam..when my husband came from office he tasted this and he told me that it is so good just like what we get in sadhyas.i became so happy.Next day i told the same to amma:))

Wishing you all a Happy and Wonderful Mother's day.. on this occation i am sharing  my mom's special recipe to all of my friends.Everyday is mother's day right..no need for a special day for mom..I always think about Amma ,every day for one or the other reasons; while cooking I think Amma did that way, while combing the hair I think amma used to do this way..while pampering my kid I think amma used to do this way.for each and everything and everytime mom will be with us right."Amma" is so special gift from GOD.
Lots of stories right..Ok let me tell u the preparation steps of this Kadala Pradhaman.

Ingredients

Channa Dal/split Bengal gram: 1 cup
Water: 1 cup
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Jaggery: 1 cup or 2 medium balls
Water: 1 cup
Diluted Coconut Milk: 11/2 cup
Concendrated Coconut Milk: 1/2 cup
Cardamom: 3 piece
Garnishing
Ghee: 1 tsp
Cashew nuts: 10 nos
Raisins: 15 nos
Preparation
Step1:

• Soak the Channa for 4 hours
• In a pressure cooker cook the soaked channa with enough water.Cook until 2 - 3 whistle If u have excess water drain it and tranfer the cooked channa onto a plate and crush it.
• Make the diluted and concentrated coconut milk.
• Make the jaggery syrup - Add the jaggery and water then heat it until it became a liquid form.Strain it using a tea strainer.
• In another pan just heat the ghee..add the cashews and saute well once it almost get a light brown color add the raisins saute for 2 minute and switch off the flame and keep it aside
• Make a nice powder of the cardamom

Step2

• Heat Ghee in a thick bottom vesel.Add the cooked channa into the ghee and nicely cook the channa again in ghee.Cook until all the watery contents evaporates from the dal.the right consistency how u can find is once it is completely done it will start seperating from the vessel..

Step3

• Pour the jaggery syrup into it..stir continuously..keep the flame in medium otherwise there are chances of burning the channa.

Step4

• Add the diluted coconut milk and mix well.Cook it for 5-7 minutes in medium heat..stir continuously

Step5:

• Add the cardamom powder.Mix well.
• Add the concentrated coconut milk..reduce the heat to low..just heat it for 3-5 minute 
• Add the Cashew nuts and  raisin in to the Kadala pradhaman and stir well.

The delciious Kadala Pradaman is ready to have.

Cook's Tip

• Do not add excess water for cooking the channa.If water is there in the cooked channa completely drain it.
• Once u strain the jaggery syrup immediately wash the strainer and the vessel used for the preparation .otherwise it will be so sticky.
• First do all the things specified in step1.then only start preparing the payasam (step 2-5).Because u have to stir  continuously until its done.otherwise there are chances to stick /burn the dal.that will ruin the entire taste of the pradhaman.

Sending this Mom's favorite KadalaPradhaman  to Jyothi's Mother's Day event and  Sabitha's Celebrating Mom's Event 
Also sending this to Priya's cooking-with-seeds-cardamom-seeds Event

Palada/RiceAda Kheer and HAPPY VISHU

Dear friends, Wishing you all a very HAPPY VISHU. Hope all of you had a wonderful vishukani and got a good amount of Vishu Kaineetam. We have arranged the kani with limited items (whatever available here).The important one in the Vishukani is the Kanikonna (Golden Shower - the special yellow flower). Here we used the yellow flower instead of the kanikonna. 

This Vishu is really important for us. Because this is our little one's first Vishu. So we arranged a nice vishukani for him.On the vishu day, mom & dad used to wake us up in the morning and showed the kani and gave the kaineetam etc etc..But this time it was our duty to wake our little one up and show him the Kani and to give him the kaineetam. Great things in life.Always thankful to God for such nice moments.

Yesterday itself amma called and told us that we should show him the kani in the morning iteslf. So what we did was after setup the kani, we bought him to the poojaroom before 5am (Usually he wakes up and stands in the crib and then cries for food at around 5 am in the morning. That is his style) and then woke him up ..he saw the kani and slept again..We have to give him the vishukaineetam too.

The best thing i like about the vishu  is the vishukaineetam. In my childhood, we(me and my brother) used to get atleast Rs.100/- as kaineetam from parents and relatives. That was our bonus to our usual pocket-money during that time. So after vishu,  I became so rich and the new bank for rest of the year. If mom or dad need money for anything, they used to borrow it from me(Especially in month end. :) ). My brother didn't make any rule (because by the end of Vishu season, he would have already spent his money).  but I set certain rules. If it's not returning before 5 days,  I  would add Rs.5/- per day to the total and I could earn at least Rs.20-25/- by that way. Everyday I would remind them that you guys borrowed money from me. They used to say all bank have interest rate, but none of them ask for this much rate and they didn't have public announcement system like this. Only our daughter's bank has all these kind of special features. I always enjoyed those things. Really miss those moments:))

We like all kind of these traditional festivals. But nowadys it's fading out from our life because of the busy life style. Sure the new generations really miss all these wonderful festivals and the way we enjoyed each of them.

Usually on the Vishu day, we prepare our kerala-style feast. But I prepared the simple feast: parippu pappadam sambar inji mango pickles aviyal thoran and Palada. The "Palada" (Rice Ada kheer) is Lord Krishna's favorite payasam (Kheer). Our favorite one too. I got rice ada from the Indian grocery. Usually we can find only the instant palada mix. I don't like it, but luckly this time we got the plain rice ada pack. Whenever I saw these kind of demanded items I used to buy 4-5 packets. 

I am going to share with you this palada recipe. It's really easy to prepare but make sure that ada is fully cooked and be careful while boiling the milk. if the heat is too high it will burn the milk and the payasam taste bad. 

Lots of stories right ok let me explain how to prepare the delicious palada.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cost of the ada: 1.99usd/pack

Ingredients

Ada 1 pack

Sugar 1 cup
Milk 1/2 gallon
For seasoning
Cashewnuts 10 nos
Raisins 10 nos
Cardamom 3 nos
Ghee 2tbsp
Condensed milk1/4portion
Rose water 3 tbsp
Preparation

• Step1:Boil 2 cups of water.add the ada into it and cook until the Ada is well cooked.strain the water and wash the Ada in cold water for 1-2times.
• Step2:Boil milk in the thick bottom vessel (in Kerala we use "uruli" - thick bottom bronze vessel). Add the cooked Ada in to the milk and cook until the milk thickens
• Step3:Mix sugar with 1 cup of water and add it into the payasam. stir continously. Make sure that sugar completely dissolves in the water before adding it in to the payasam.
• Step4:At the same time heat ghee in another pan add cashews. Once it gets light brown color add the raisins fry for sometime.Keep it aside.
• Step5:Cook the payasam in  medium heat until it get light brown  color.Change the heat level to low then add the condensed milk mix well .stir continously  for 2 more minute.
• Step6:Crush the cardamom and add it in to the Ada. Add the cashew- raisin mix
• Step7:Switch of the heat and add the rose milk.mix well.

The delicious palada is ready to have...

Cook's tip

• Cook the Ada until it is completely cooked.check it by taking a cooked Ada crush it using your fingers.you can crush the cooked Ada easily otherwise it will be sticky
• Do not boil the palada after adding the condensed milk.
• Rose water is optional.it gives a very nice flavor

Sending this entry to   kheer festival conducted by easy2cookrecipes 

and also to cardamom seed event hosted by priya