Nameless Payasam

Onam, the Harvest festival of the southern state of India, also marks the homecoming of Mahabali, the Asura King from 'Patal', the underworld. As he loved his subjects very dearly, he would come to visit them every year. His visit was celebrated as Onam.

As all indian festivals,payasams are made. This one does not have a name in our home. Mom used to make it on occasions and has always been one of my favourites. I took the recipe from her and made it after a long time for Onam this year.

Simple and easy, this sweet dish comes together in minutes.

You Need:

• 2 tbsps rice soaked in water for about an hour
• 8 cashew nuts soaked with the rice
• Grated fresh coconut - 3 tbsps
• 1 cup grated jaggery
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsps ghee / clarified butter
• Few chopped cashews
• Few small pieces of fresh coconut
• Two pinches of cardamom powder

Steps:

• Grind the rice along with the cashews and grated coconut to a paste.
• Melt the jaggery in one cup of water and strain to remove any sediments.
• Add the jaggery syrup to the rice paste and stir it well. Add one more cup of water to it. On a medium low flame heat it. Stir it continuously till it slightly thickens, about 10-12 minutes. It will start looking glossy. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
• In a small pan heat the ghee on a low flame and roast the cashew nut pieces till slightly brown. Strain it out of the ghee. Then add the coconut pieces and fry till slightly brown.
• When it cools, add the milk and stir well. Stir in the cardamom powder, fried cashews and coconut pieces into the payasam.
• Enjoy the payasam warm or chilled.

Notes:

• You can make cardamom powder by grinding a few pods of the cardamom along with half a teaspoon of sugar and sieving it. Use the fine powder for your sweet dishes. The remaining husk can be added to your tea leaves for cardamom tea. 
• It makes about 8 small servings.
• You can use two cups of milk and one cup of water for a richer taste.
• Always stir in the milk when the payasam has cooled down, else the milk may split.
• If you like your Payasam very sweet, add a quarter cup more of jaggery. 

If anyone knows the name to this Payasam, please let me know :)

Creamy Cheesy Pasta

Pasta is a meal I usually make when I am totally not in the mood to cook. "White Pasta" was the choice of the day. I wanted to make sure it had some veggies to make the mother in me happy.

A little bit of chopping and some bit of stirring and this yummy dish is all ready. What makes it special is the addition of roasted vegetables. And the biggest plus - my kids absolutely loved it and polished off their plates :)

For the calorie conscious, please keep yourself miles away from this dish !!!

You need:

• 1 small head broccoli cut into flowerets
• I medium carrot small diced
• 4 baby corns quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" pieces
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1/2 small capsicum small diced (I used green and red capsicum)
• 1 pod garlic finely chopped or grated
• 1/2 cup packed grated cheese (I used processed cheese)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 cups boiled pasta of your choice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Pepper
• Salt

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180degrees C.
• Toss the broccoli, baby corn and carrots in a baking tray with 1 tbsp olive oil and a little bit of salt. Place it in the middle rack of the oven and roast it for about 25-30 minutes.
• In a pan, heat the remaining olive oil. Add the garlic and stir for about 20-30 seconds. Add the onions and stir till slightly brown. Add the capsicum and stir for about 2 minutes. 
• Add the milk and cheese and stir well till the cheese melts.
• Season with pepper and add the roasted vegetables.
• Add the boiled pasta and mix well.
• Serve warm.

Notes:

• You can stir fry the veggies in the pan before adding the milk and cheese.
• You can add a handful of peas and sweet corn along with the capsicum.
• I did not need to add any additional salt as the cheese was salty enough.
• You can use any pasta of your choice.
• You can substitute the milk with 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk for a richer and creamier taste.
• Add some dried herbs of your choice if your children like it.

Quick-Fix Rasmalai

Rasmalai is one of the Indian sweets I really love. This is a quick-fix recipe and it gets made in less than 30 mins.

You need:

• 1 tin readymade rasgullas
• 750 ml full fat milk
• 3 tsp Everest Milk Masala
• A big pinch safforn
• 6 tbsp Sugar - add more if required (I personally don't like my desserts too sweet)
• Slivered Almonds and Pistachios for decoration

Steps:

• In a thick bottom pan bring the milk to a boil.
• Add required sugar and the milk masala powder and let it boil for 15 mins on a low flame.
• Squeeze the excess syrup out of the rasgullas and arrange them in your serving bowl.
• Add the crushed saffron to the milk after taking it off the heat.
• Let it cool for a while and then pour it over the rasgullas while still slightly warm.
• Decorate with slivered almonds and pistachios.
• After it cools, refrigerate for a few hours.
• Serve chilled.

Notes:

• I used Haldiram's 1kg tin which had 14 rasgullas in them.
• In case you don't have the Everest Milk Masala, you can powder almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios (after toasting them slightly) with cardamom seeds and a bit of saffron to make about 3 tsp of powder.