quick cooker carrot pal paysam and a girl's day out in the city!

Gosh has it been a long time since my last post! Where to begin. Well I started working with a non-profit. Even though it is only part-time and I get to work from home,  it has been challenging managing deadlines and conference calls, what with having to report to a toddler as well, who we all know is the most demanding kind of boss!

While I have been cooking some and photographing a little, sadly blogging was put on the back burner. I wished for more hours in the day, but what I was really lacking was motivation.

And then last week, much needed motivation came  in the form of my lovely friends and super talented fellow bloggers Vijitha, Prerna and Kankana.  Along with two other new friends, Viji's Mom and our kids, we took a day off from our everyday routines to meet up in the city. We had been planning and discussing this for weeks. The night before we all made and packed snacks for the little ones, yummy beetroot parathas, ragi patties, chocolate loaf and some vattayappam from me ( recipe coming soon) I was so excited the night before I could hardly sleep, just like before long ago school excursions!

On the morning of our trip, I had a long call from work and all along I kept thinking of the bus I had to take to go meet the girls and if I missed it (which I did) I would have to wait an hour for the next one.  Thankfully T came to the rescue dropping me off to the ferry landing so that I could take the ferry to San Francisco and I must say we traveled in style! My little monkey and I thoroughly enjoyed our ferry ride and I am so glad I ended up missing that bus.

 

If there is one thing that I learnt in life is that everything is much, much better shared with a gang of girl friends. Whether it be prawn pickle in a hostel mess or pre-exam panic, or a beautiful outing. I miss my girl friends and roommates from my college and hostel days a lot and was beginning to think I would never be able to enjoy that kind of female bonding again. I am so thankful to have met some good friends even after moving here and at this stage of my life as a mom, when I think I need friends most!  We talked and laughed and munched, wandering through the market, pushing our strollers with our naughty toddlers along, while around us the city whirled and buzzed. Smartly suited professionals out for lunch waited patiently behind us as we discussed and debated what to order at the numerous little stalls within the ferry building.Young couples out on a date and nosy little pigeons edged out of the way of not one,  not two, but four strollers and us large group of chattering women, brandishing our cameras and clicking away. We must have been quite a sight!

I only took my point and shoot along and left the photography to the experts, but then they decided they wouldn't let me eat my ice cream in peace and suddenly, my melting malted chocolate cone from Humphry Solocome was caught up in the middle of a full blown photo-shoot.  I love that picture taken by Prerna and you can see Kankana and Viji's versions on their blog posts, beautifully capturing our magical day at the San Francisco Ferry building.

There was a farmers market happening that day and some of the girls bought gorgeous heirloom carrots to take home. Since they posted their carrot dishes as part of or impromptu group blogging activity to record our magical day out, I thought I too would blog about this super easy and very delicious cooker carrot pal payasam- a perfect spring time dessert!

Pal payasam is a sweet milk pudding that is commonly served in temples as prasadam in Kerala and most of South India. Phirni is a similar sweet dish, popular in North India which is served in clay pots which impart an earthy flavour and draw out the water, making the pudding thicker and creamier. While we add a handful of rice to give the sweet some body, it is not really a rice pudding, more of a milk pudding I think!. I used basmati rice although traditionally a special type of payasam rice called Unakalari is used in Kerala which imparts a pinkish colour to the pudding. You could use brown rice, but do not use glutinous or sticky Asian rice. This payasam is mainly sweetened milk which is slowly cooked, stirring for hours until it has reduced and tastes somewhat like condensed milk. Often it is made with creamy buffalo milk.

I made this in the pressure cooker, so it was super easy and quick, but you can also make this in a slow cooker or the traditional way-cooking it in a wide pot ( so that there is more surface area for the water in the milk to evaporate faster) until the milk has reduced to half it's original volume, though you have to watch that the milk at the bottom of the pan doesn't burn, so you have to stir it occasionally.

I added some grated carrot which melded very well, imparting their sweetness without overpowering the flavour of the milk which is the star. Sometimes a pinch of cardamom powder or saffron is used, and the pudding is  usually garnished with chopped nuts, but I agree with purists that this is not necessary as you don't want anything distracting from the wonderful taste of the reduced milk. 

4 Ingredient, quick and easy Carrot Pal Payasam

Ingredients:

• Carrots 6 medium ( omit for traditional pal payasam)
• Kerala Rosematta or Basmati Rice 1/4 cup ( Not sticky or glutinous rice) 
• Sugar 1/2 to 1 cup ( You can easily adjust  sweetness depending on your preference, start with less and you can also add more sugar if needed at the end) 
• Milk 4 cups ( I used whole milk) 
• Ghee or butter 1 tbsp
• Chopped nuts for garnishing ( not necessary) 

Directions

Pulse the rice in a blender a few times to break it up. Do not grind it to a powder. 

(I skip this step if I'm in a hurry.)

Wash the broken rice and let it drain in a strainer

Grate the carrots using a box grater or food processor

Heat the ghee or butter in a large pressure cooker or a heavy pot 

Add the carrots and cook, stirring until they no longer taste raw

Add the sugar and stir for a few minutes more until the sugar melts completely

Now add the rice and the milk  and mix everything well

If you are using a pressure cooker, put the lid and the whistle on. 

Cook on medium heat until one whistle.

As soon as the whistle goes, switch the heat on to low for about 10 more minutes and then switch off the flame.

(If you leave it on for too long, the pressure cooker may leak all over your kitchen so be careful!)

Once you have switched off the heat, leave it on the stove until all the steam has gone.

(Go do something else like paint your nails or read that blog post you had bookmarked!)

Once all the steam has gone, open the pressure cooker and taste. If you want you can add more sugar now.
Stir the payasam occasionally on med-low flame (with the lid off) to thicken it more to your liking.
Serve warm or chilled ( I prefer it chilled as it gets a little thicker and creamier)

Keeps well in a lidded container in the fridge for a few days. Make sure it has cooled before keeping in the fridge.

The taste of this payasam is rich and luxurious and I was craving it for days after it was all over. You might think that 1/4 cup of rice is not much but it really bulks up, absorbing the milk and you really don't want to add more. Even if you are a cardamom freak like me, and be tempted to add some or other spices- don't. Let the reduced milk flavor shine through!

I will be sending my carrot pal payasam to The Kerala Kitchen hosted by Jehanne of The Cooking Doctor this month 

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Lonan's Tender Coconut Pudding for The Kerala Kitchen!

 I have wanted to make tender coconut pudding for a while now. Finally when my father brought home a bunch of perfect tender coconuts  from, of all places- a charity auction for the local church community, I jumped at the chance. Divine providence, even in matters as small and unimportant as my longing for tender coconut pudding ! This recipe is from Lonan, a famous cook in Kerala who's recipes are hailed as being fail-proof by my mom and aunts.One bite of this silky smooth, refreshing tender coconut pudding and you will be transported instantly to the almost assaultingly green and peaceful Kerala.

I have been having a happy but hectic past month here in India, hence the lack of updates. Hope you have all been well and those in the US had a good thanksgiving feast and ate an extra slice of pie for me since I left before I could bake even one, though I did have more than my fair share last year!

Here its cloudy and chilly with the heavens threatening to pour down on us and warnings of floods and dams bursting. All around sombre reminders of how much at the mercy of God and nature we always are..
Inspite of the gloomy weather I have been having a wonderful time with my family and friends here who I am meeting after 3 long years. Been trying to take a break from the Internet and maximize our time visiting my mom-in-law and watching mallu movies, managing to do a little bit of shopping and lots of cooking and baking up a storm with her as she is an awesome baker herself and makes the world's BEST tea cake.Her cook Sarah also taught me finally how to roll and make the perfect fluffy fulkas and crispest dosas!

I also had the awesome opportunity to renew my spiritual life through a Catholic retreat for 5 days. So that's where I was the last week, in total peace, away from the pull and tug of everyday distractions and really close to God and learning so much more about my faith.

During my self imposed Internet break, I received the nicest surprise- my first ever DMBLGIT (Does My Blog Look Good in This) Photography Award! for the picture in my post here. Am thrilled beyond words!
Also ecstatic that despite Ria and I being off on holiday, our cooking event featuring the cuisine of our homeland The Kerala Kitchen has been going on in full swing thanks to our AWESOME members! Thank you ladies for all the deliciousness and especially to our wonderful hosts including this month's host Fajeeda of Faji's Hot Pot and the host for December Sonia of Dinner Recipe Guide 
Fajeeda, here is a delicious tropical dessert full of the taste of Kerala for your roundup!

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andi unda (roasted cashew and rice sweet balls)

Today tea time seems to be either a long forgotten luxury or a quick sip of something scalding to get you going through the rest of the day.
In my grandmother's home in Kerala, however, tea time is a languid, happy part of every day. It is when the men folk are back from town, the women including my mom and aunts are done with most of the day's chores  and us city kids home for the summer holidays, were tired out after a day spent running loose.


We would arrive panting, an internal alarm having magically alerted us while climbing trees,  splashing in the river, feeding and petting my grandmother's collection of critters including a flock of white geese that followed her around everywhere, and three cows, or while simply flopping down with our books, reading away the summer holidays.


Everyone would gather at the kitchen table, including very often neighbours and aunts who lived closeby, always unannounced, walking in through the kitchen door that was always open, sometimes with a freshly baked pound cake or some other palaharam (Malayalam for sweet snacks) to share. How I miss those cozy, informal tea times in today's hurried days!


There would be boxes of laddoos or jaelabis that the uncles brought home from town, cookies or tea cakes or warm pazham pori (banana fritters).
We kids were allowed into the dark store-moori ( room) to choose among the treasures within and bring out tins of typicak Kerala snacks like banana chips, sharkaravartty ( jaggery coated crunchy fried bananas), crisp kozhalappams, achappapams ( made with rosette moulds) , uniappam and other goodies that my grandmother, mom, aunts and the cheduthi's painstakingly made together sharing stories,  along with the various tasks involved with the cooking.

My eyes would light up when I spotted the glass jar containing these smooth brown rounds.
But there was a catch. They could either be the dreaded avalose undas ( which I hated as a child) or these cashew andi undas which I loved. They both looked quite similar to me so every time I picked one up I would wiiisssshhh so hard before taking a bite, that it was an andi unda and not avalose unda! Of course today now that  they are both much harder to come by, I would happily eat either!


The flavour of andi unda of roasted cashews, jaggery and roasted rice is truly wonderful. It is a simple snack involving only 4 ingredients. Some people add spices like cardamom and cumin, however my Amma doesn't since she feels that they may take away from the wonderful flavor of the roasted rice and cashews. Here is her recipe, more of a rough guide since she doesn't measure anything mostly going on colour, smell and taste as do all grandmothers in India! So if it doesn't taste sweet enough for you, simply add more powdered jaggery, if its too dry, add more coconut. Taste away and adjust as necessary.

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