Carrot Payasam/Kheer

In India, no festival or special occasion is complete and no guest happy without a bowl of this sweet dish. Simple yet tasty payasam is the customary sweet dish in a multicourse festival meal. Traditionally paal payasam is made with rice and milk. The rice is cooked in milk and added to boiling milk that has been reduced, sweetened with sugar and garnished with nuts and raisins. Payasam can also made with vermicelli, tapioca pearls, carrots, dates etc., the choice is endless.

During the festival season sweets and savories are cooked up to be shared and enjoyed. Savories like murukku and sweets like gulab jamun, badam (almond) burfi, badam halwa prepared ahead of the festival day and shared with friends and family.

On the festival day itself be it Christmas, Deepavali or Pongal the lunch is a very important meal, with payasam taking a starring role. Presented here is payasam made with carrots.

The recipe will be featured on Dec 12, in the International Recipe Advent Calendar over at Lexiophiles. Visit the website to check out all the recipes in the series.

Carrot Payasam/Kheer
Ingredients
1. 4 Carrots or 2 Cups worth peeled and chopped
2. 3 1/2 cups of fat free milk
3. 6-7 tbsp of sugar
4. 2 tbsp cashews + 1 tbsp raisins + 1/2 tbsp pistachios
5. 1 cardamom powdered
6. 2 tsp ghee (clarified butter) or butter

Method
1. In a pressure cooker take 2 cups of milk with the 2 cups of carrots and cook for a whistle (OR) cook on stove top till carrots are soft. Let cool.
2. Blend the carrots till smooth.
3. Roast the cashews and raisins in the ghee
3. Take the blended carrots with the rest of milk in a thick bottomed pan and cook in low medium heat, add the cardamom powder and sugar, let cook for 4-5 minutes. Add more milk if you want drinkable consistency. [cooking at this point is just to heat up the milk and dissolve the sugar]
4. Switch off the heat, add the roasted nuts.
5. Powder the pistachios roughly and sprinkle on top just before serving.
Serve warm or chilled.

This recipe goes off to BSI-Carrots.