Parippu Pradhaman | Onam Special

Wishing all my lovely readers a very Happy and Prosperous Onam! This year my parents are here with us and that makes everything so much more special. 

Daddy's pradhaman (Payasam/Kheer prepared with jaggery) preparations are very popular at home. Both my dad and my father-in-law are in-charge of the payasam preparations during festival season. They put in a lot of effort into the preparations and the payasams always taste amazing. I tried getting Manish to watch and learn how it is made, but I'm sure that didn't work as much...lol! Daddy already made Ada Pradhaman a month back for no special occasion as such. It was so good! It was so good that I was too busy savoring it that I forgot to take a pic for sharing it with you all. ;-)

So last weekend when he made this delicious Parippu Pradhaman/Payasam for an Onam potluck with our friends, I knew it has to come on the blog for me and you all to drool over and prepare in future. :-)

Daddy likes to make his Parippu Pradhaman with split yellow moong dal. Jaggery, Coconut milk and some flavorful spices makes this payasam very unique and apt for serving as a special occasion sweet dish. It's a very easy recipe and tastes divine.  I have tried my best to explain the recipe in detail and almost as exactly as Daddy made it. 

You can see the concentration on Daddy's face as he prepares his signature Parippu Pradhaman ;-)

Parippu Pradhaman

Serves: 3-4

You'll Need

1 cup yellow split Moong Dal

2 cups water

2 cups Jaggery

2 Tablespoons Water

2 cups Coconut Milk (if using canned coconut milk)

3 cups water 

½ teaspoon dry Ginger powder

½ teaspoon Cumin powder

½ teaspoon Cardamom powder

2 Tablespoons Dry Coconut slices

2 Tablespoons sliced Cashew nuts

2 Tablespoons Ghee

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottomed pan roast split Moong Dal until it is golden brown and fragrant.

2. Add 2 cups water (or enough to cook the dal) and cook the dal until it gets soft but not overcooked/mushy.

3. While the dal cooks, in a separate frying pan, heat 2 Tablespoons Ghee and fry the coconut slices until golden brown. Next fry the cashew nuts and keep both aside.

4. Melt Jaggery in a pan with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Strain and keep aside.

5. Once dal cooks well, add the melted jaggery and cook the dal-jaggery mix until jaggery thickens and almost reaches a string like consistency over low heat (when a drop of jaggery syrup is pinched between fingers it should stick and form a thin thread)

6. Divide the 2 cups Coconut milk into 1 cup, ¾ cup and ¼ cup each – which we call 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd milk.

- Into the 1 cup coconut milk, add 2 cups water – keep aside (1^st milk)

- Into the ¾ cup coconut milk, add 1 cup water – keep aside (2^nd milk)

- Into the ½ cup milk add Cardamom, Cumin and Ginger powders – keep aside (3^rd milk)

7. Now add the 1^st milk into the dal-jaggery mix and cook over medium-low heat until the mix thickens.

8. Then add the 2^nd milk and continue to cook until the payasam reaches a good consistency. It will thicken as it cools so don't thicken it too much while cooking.

9. Finally add the 3^rd milk, stir well and turn off the heat.

10. Garnish with fried coconut slices and cashew nuts – delicious Parippu Pradhaman is ready. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy it as is or with small banana and pappadam …yumm!

Once again wishing everyone a very Happy Onam, from our family to yours! 

-Manju

Apple Pachadi (Apples in a creamy mustard and yogurt sauce)

It's officially the second day of Fall today!! Apart from the onset of Fall, I knew September was going to be a month of many changes. Like I had mentioned before, my lil’Appu began daycare fulltime and my parents have gone back to Kerala after a short and beautiful 6 months with us. Apart from all this few other unexpected personal events also came up and I have no idea how this month has gone by.  Anyways we are coming back to our old routines now and the house would have been terribly silent if it weren’t for my lil’Appu’s non-stop sweet nothings and stories!

He talks a lot these days, mostly stuff that only he can understand and we just play along as if we understood. He is such an understanding and accommodating little guy. He definitely misses his grandparents with whom he has spent more time than us and he keeps going into their bedroom to check if they are there. But when we ask him “Appu, where did Ammooma go?”, he says “Opice” (office) :-)

And he goes to his daycare fulltime now without creating any fuss, either coz he knows there no point crying or mayb he likes it there, I still do not know. Anyways, he’s adjusting to the new changes and he seems happy and that’s what matters to me. So all my time is now spent trying to get him to eat well, play, keep him happy and go to bed early and even before he sleeps usually I end up sleeping first, so I’m tired as a log after a full day’s work, so blogging did take a step-back but I will try to keep this space alive as much as possible.

But I’m happy that we had such a beautiful summer this year with my parents here which started with them celebrating our Housewarming with us and ended by celebrating our first Onam in our new home of six months.

Pachadi is a very common side dish for any Onam sadhya. It’s a yogurt based dish that be made with veggies or fruits. I decided to make Apple Pachadi for our sadhya but my mom was hearing of an apple pachadi for the first time :-) She is more familiar with the veggie versions of pachadi and not fruit based pachadi, but I thought it would be a change from the regular items and Apples are plenty this season.  Green apples would be ideal for this dish as it’s nice to have a tart and savory flavor, but I used sweet & juicy red Gala apples and they were fine too.

Apple Pachadi

You’ll Need

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies – 2

Curry leaves – a sprigfull ( 8-10 leaves)

Oil – 1 tblsp

Pearl Onions or Shallots (thinly sliced) – 2-3

Green Chillies (sliced into rounds) – 1 or 2

Green or Red Apples (peeled, and cored) – 2  big apples

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Grated Coconut – 1 tblsp

Yogurt – 2 cups

Salt – to taste

Directions

1. Dice the peeled and cored apples into small thin cubes and keep them immersed in some water until required (This helps in them not getting oxidized and turning brown)

2. Using a mortar pestle, crush the mustard seeds gently until they split apart and coarsely crush the grated coconut (can also use a mixer grinder for this)

3. Heat 1 tblsp oil in a deep frying pan, add the mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves and sauté until the mustard seeds splutter.

4. Next add the onions and green chillies and sauté until they are fried well.

5. Add the diced apples (without the water) and mix everything until the apples turn slightly tender but not too soft.

6. Reduce the heat, add the crushed mustard seeds and coconut and stir everything together until combined and turn off the heat after 2 mins.

7. Once cooled slightly but still warm, add the yogurt and mix well. Can be served warm or chilled.

Sweet and savory and with a very unique flavor from the crushed mustard seeds and sweet apples and so creamy, it's one of my favorite side dishes. Try this out sometime, even if you are not having a sadhya, it’s can be a simple and sweet side dish for a simple lunch or dinner.

And I’m hoping to get back to my regular routines and blogging and cake baking soon. Can you believe I haven’t baked a cake since Appu’s b’day, except for instant microwave cakes?? Gotta get out of this phase soon!  So see you all again with more yummy recipes and stories from my kitchen and home to yours :-)

Other Pachadi recipes:

Pineapple and Strawberry Pachadi

TurnipGreens Pachadi

-Manju