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.
Servings 2 people
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.
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