Aval Payasam / Rice Flakes Kheer

Today is Karthigai Deepam - The festival of lights and I did my best for my son to feel what it actually means through food and some candle lights. Though it's not even 10% close to what we celebrate in TamilNadu, it was nice and subtle in our own way. For those of you who wants to know more about what is 'Karthigai Deepam' and the legend behind the festival head over to Cham's place  and check out her detailed post about this wonderful day of lights.

Now coming back to food,  I prepared Aval Payasam and Ulunthu/Urad dhal  vadai .

The recipe for the Urad dhal is the same as I mentioned in this post. But today I followed an interesting tip given by my aunt.To make the vadai's more crispy on the outside soak 2 tblsps of Thoor dhal  along with the urad dhal and the rest of the procedure is the same as given here. 

Aval Payasam:

This is a fairly simple recipe just like any other payasam, it takes hardly 30 mins to prepare. I used Cashews and Almonds, you can also use any other nuts of your choice. An additional 1/4 cup of shredded coconut also brings out an extra richness to this payasam,but its purely optional and I didnt use it for today.

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice flakes/Poha

6 cups milk

1 cup sugar

handful of cashews( about 1/4 cup)

handful of Almonds (1/4 cup)

2 elaichi/cardamom / 1/4 tsp of cardomom powder

2 tblsp of ghee

Method:

Boil the milk in saucepan

Paralley roast the riceflakes in about 1/2 tsp of ghee until you get a nice aroma

Add this roasted riceflakes, sugar and elaichi  to the boiling milk 

Cook in medium flame with constant stirring until the rice flakes are cooked and soft to the touch.

 It takes about 15 - 20 mins. 

In a seperate pan roast the cashews and almond to golden brown in about a tblsp of ghee.

Add this to the reduced payasam and switch off the stove.

The payasam/gheer will thicken as it cools down.
Serves about 5-6 people.

Have a nice weekend !