Palada Pradhaman–Pressure Cooker version

Ingredients (Serves 10 – 15):

Rice Ada   --   1 cup (I prefer the brands Priya or Ambika – the smaller and sharper, the better taste)
Milk            --   6 - 7 cups
Sugar         --   1 ½ cups
Cashews   --   a handful
Ghee          --    1 tbsp
Butter        --   1 tbsp, preferably unsalted

Preparation of Pradhaman / Payasam:

Wash and drain the ada and keep it in a heat proof bowl. Boil 2 – 3 cups of water and pour it over the washed ada. Let it rest for 20 mins.

In a pressure cooker (5 ltr capacity), add the milk and sugar and let it start to boil. Add the ada in it and close with the lid of the cooker and keep the “weight” on the pressure cooker. Simmer the flame to low.

Let it cook for 45 minutes.

Keep an eye on it. Make sure that it does not whistle to release the pressure. If it tends to, then remove the cooker from the stove and keep it aside and keep it back once the pressure is reduced.

After 45 minutes, switch off the flame and let it cool down until the whole pressure is released.

If the payasam does not reach the required consistency and colour, stir it for few minutes on high flame. If the payasam is too thick for you, add some milk and boil.  This depends upon the pressure cooker and hence cannot be predicted. In most cases, you should get it right J.

Add the butter to the hot payasam and stir occasionally to avoid cream getting formed on the top.

Heat the ghee and fry the cashews until light brown .Add them to the payasam and serve hot.

I love the cold version as well  J

Recipe Courtesy:  Mummy(My father's sister - I call her Mummy :)