Lentils in milk and jaggery ...a divine dessert

Paruppu Payasam --  food for the Gods

Paruppu Payasam

Simple.Quick.And tasty. That is how the food for Gods across India is.Yes, our Gods love food. And every occasion, every region, religion and culture , has something for every God—every of the thousands of gods that dot the Indian pantheon.

But if we  figure  a mathematical “common factor”, it has got to be a very simple, very quick and very tasty dish made of lentils, milk and jiggery, with a hint of cardamom.  If one is from a coastal    state with swaying palmtrees adding to the landscape, one would definitely throw in some coconut also into God’s food.

And if you want to pamper the Lord even as you are dieting, you may golden-fry some cashew nut in pure, home-made ghee. Clarified Butter.

In its dry form, where the milk is either absent, or reduced, this is “puran” to be stuffed into near translucent  maida rotis, or rotis made of semolina and maida, and rolled fine again, into a “puranpoli”.

But the simplest, quickest and easiest, was , I figured, the way my mother would make it—on Fridays, Varalakshmi Nombu days, Krishna Jayanthi days(along with some other stuff), Ganesh Chaturthi days, Saraswati  Pooja days…… and so on.

I made this “Paruppu Payasam” –a kheer made of dals--as it is called in Tamil Nadul, to feel like I was indulging in a sweet dish, with the blessings of all the Gods. Prasadam, that is.

But I skipped the ghee and cashew nuts because I’d feel bad if I have to blame the Gods for the weight I may put on!

Here it goes:

Time taken: Half an hour

Chana Dal—Two tablespoons

Moon Dhuli—Two  tablespoons

Rice—One teaspoon

Cardamom—seeds of four

Water—Half a cup

Milk-1 litre

Jaggery-crushed—One cup

Raisins—a few

Roast the dals and rice together in a frying pan, till they release a lovely aroma. Cool for five minutes, add the cardamom and powder together coarsely.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the water, add the lentils powder,stir well. Once they have blended well, add half the milk.

When it begins to boil, keep stirring, so that it does not stick at the bottom. Keep adding the remaining milk, in small quantities. 

When the lentils powder is nicely cooked and it looks creamy, switch off the gas, and cool it for five minutes. Now add the crushed jiggery, and stir well, till it is truly golden in colour and grainy in texture.

  

A generous dollop of ghee in which cashew nuts have been friend will definitely make this dish exactly like what is offered in many temples of South India, to the presiding dieties.

But I made do with a few plain raisins.

Now , wasn’t that  Simple,Quick and Tasty? And Divine?

Divine dessert