Broken Wheat Payasam \ Gothambu Payasam

It is my little girl's birthday and so I guess it is a good excuse for the family to indulge in some delicious Payasam. In India we typically celebrate all special occasions with traditional desserts and in Kerala (the Southernmost state of India,where I hail from) we usually prepare one of the many different variations of payasam. I absolutely love this dish and would vouch for this as my favorite traditional dessert. This is prepared rich and luscious with jaggery,chewy wheat bits, creamy coconut milk, special Kerala bananas and cardamom that add a unique flavour and the ghee fried raisins, cashew nuts and coconut pieces.

Serves 8
Ingredients

Broken wheat – 1 cup
4 3/4 C - Water (divided)
4 whole pods - Cardamom
12 oz / 350 gm - Jaggery or Karipatti
1 Can (13.6oz) - Unsweetened Coconut milk
Whole milk – 1 1/2 cups
1 1/4 Tsp - Cardamom powder (Refer Notes)
3 - Ripe Small Kerala banana like Palayam kodan or Poovan (Refer Notes)
1 1/2 Tbsp - Ghee
1/4 C - Cashew nuts
1/4 C - Raisins
1/2 C - Coconut pieces

Directions

• Cook the broken/ cracked wheat with 4 cups of water and 4 whole pods of cardamom in a pressure cooker on high heat. After the first whistle, reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for only 10 mins from start to finish. Remove from heat and wait until the pressure subsides.
• In a non-stick pan add jaggery and 3/4 cups of water and cook until the jaggery melts. Strain this mixture and keep aside.
• Open the pressure cooker and add coconut milk, jaggery syrup, cardamom powder and milk.
• Mash the banana with a spoon. Add the mashed banana and cook until the payasam starts to bubble. Remove from heat.
• Heat ghee in a pan and fry the coconut pieces. Once they are golden brown, take them out with a slotted spoon. Add the cashew nut sand raisins to the remaining ghee and saute until the cashew nuts are golden brown and raisins puff up.Add the fried coconut, raisins and cashew nuts to the payasam. Serve hot or cold.

Notes and Tips

• Kerala banana can be found in Asian stores or Indian stores.Try not to skip this ingredient as it adds a lot of flavour
• If you use a dark brown Jaggery or Karipatti you will get a dark brown payasam.
• I use Thai Kitchen Canned Coconut milk. That is by far the best canned coconut milk I have used.
• If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can cook the wheat on stove top. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a non-stick sauce pan.Slowly stir-in the cracked/ broken wheat. When mixture begins to thicken(about 5 mins), reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 30 mins or to desired consistency stirring occasionally.
• This payasam is not too sweet but if you want a sweeter payasam just add more jaggery.
• I used homemade cardamom powder which had the skin and seed of the cardamom. If you are using the cardamom seed powder, it will be stronger and so you will have to use just 1/2 Teaspoon. Adjust the spice according to your taste.