Nei Payasam | How to make Sharkara Payasam

Nei Payasam is a special payasam made with Unakkalari, jaggery, and ghee and served during festival occasions in Kerala Temples.

Unakkalari is a kind of raw rice used in Kerala and the rice is used without removing the rice bran. Nei Payasam, also called Aravana Payasam is cooked in a brass uruli that is thick bottomed and cooked on low flame to get the flavours are nicely mixed. Though this is similar to the Sakkarai Pongal, the way this payasam is cooked makes all the difference.

As I have said in a few posts, I had planned for these months with the other recipes from the Thali posts. Unfortunately with us not sharing the Thali posts, we are forced to share these recipes very reluctantly without sharing the whole thali pictures. It was such an unexpected turn of events.

Anyway, I had managed to click a few pictures without the whole thali in view. So sharing some of those for this week which is the last in the series of BM#113, Traditional Sweets.

I adapted my recipe from here and had a delicious time enjoying the sweet. Since I didn't have this rice variety, I had to use basmati.

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Ingredients Used

This is a simple recipe made with just a handful of ingredients. The flavour comes from the raw rice variety used to make this.

Jaggery is the sweetener used to make this dish and the colour depends on the jaggery used.

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Nei Payasam | How to make Sharkara Payasam

Nei Payasam is a special payasam made with Unakkalari, jaggery and ghee and served during festival occasions in Kerala Temples.

Course Sweets

Cuisine Kerala

Keyword Sweet Pongal Kerala Style

By Cook Method Pressure Cooker

Occasion Festival Meal

By Diet Vegetarian

Dish Type Pongal Recipes

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Srivalli

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Basmati Rice / Unakkalari
• 4 tbsp Ghee
• 1 cup Jaggery
• 3 cups Water
• 1/4 cup Coconut grated
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
• A Pinch Dry Ginger Powder
• Handful Cashew Nuts

Instructions

How to make Sharkara Payasam | Nei Payasam

• Soak jaggery in 1 cup of warm water and then crush it well.
• Then, heat it up until it is slightly thick. Cool down, strain and keep aside. You don't have to check for string consistency.
• Wash and soak the rice. Add 2 cups water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Rice should be cooked till soft but not mushy as we want the grains to be seen.
• Measure and add jaggery syrup.
• Mix well and cook in low flame till the jaggery syrup blends well with the rice. Once this is done, add grated coconut.
• Mix well and cook for 2 mins, then add ghee little by little.
• Keep mixing, at one stage the payasam will get thick and saucy in consistency. Add roasted cashews, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder and switch off.
• Serve hot.

Notes

Don’t cook this payasam very thick as it will harden further after cooling down.

The consistency is more like sweet pongal. Unakkalari is a special type of Kerala Raw Rice which gives a unique flavour to the payasam. Since I didn't have, I used Basmati.

If required, you can cook the jaggery to a thick one string thread as well. The color of the payasam depends totally on the jaggery color.

Tried this recipe?Mention @cooking4all or tag #cooking4all!

This was part of my Thali theme. For more menu ideas, check out the Thalis and Platters that would appeal to Elders, and Thalis & Platters that Kids would love!