Parrippu Payasam is served during special occasions like Onam or Vishu.
For the Onam sadya, it is one of the brown payasams or the jaggery based payasam that is served with the white or sugar based payasams
This used to be a time consuming dish as it needed coconut milk ..and one had to use the different extracts of coconut milk at different stages of cooking. Now with the arrival of the instant coconut milk powder,I have found this to be an easy dish to cook.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
Moong dal or cherupayar parrippu.. 200 gms
Jaggery..400gms
Coconut milk. Thin milk..(3rd extract) 4 cups
Medium thick or second extract..4 cups
Thick or first extract 1 1/2 cups
Cashews. 50 gms
Coconut bits. ..50 gms
Ghee 3 tbspns
Cardamom powder ¼ tsp or Dry ginger powder ¼ tsp
Jeera powder ½ tsp
Method:
Roast the moong dal lightly and wash well.Cook it till well done.
Melt the jaggery in one cup of water on low heat and strain the impurities
Add the jaggery syrup to the cooked dal. Mix well.
Add 2 tbspn ghee to this along with the third extract of coconut milk. Simmer and let it reduce a little. Add the second extract and continue simmering till the payasam thickens and reduces.
When it reaches a thicker consistency,lower the heat and add the first extract of coconut milk.
Cook for a further 5 mins and take off the stove.
Add cashews and coconut bits which have been fried in a tbsp of ghee.Add the cardamom or dry ginger powder and the cumin powder too.
This payasam will keep well in the fridge for a few days and can be had cold or hot.
Cooked sago can be added to the payasam while adding the second extract of coconut milk,but I hadn’t done this, as firstly..I forgot and secondly it doesn’t have a fan following in my home.
– Courtesy Annie Alexander