Celebrations with Paal Payasam / Milk Pudding

FINALLY !! After a gruelling month of assignments, deadlines, exams and ultimate torture were two long months of non-stop travelling. Enjoyed every single place visited and had loads of fun. Though I missed celebrating my Baby Blog's 1st birthday in all this chaos, I was remembering my baby so much... Happy Birthday my dear Bloggy!!

Today the day has finally come to celebrate with a simple yet very special dish "Paal Payasam". Getting back to my routines gradually and I thought better late than never. Have been able to catch quite a few glimpses of most of the blogs out there, but I guess I need more than a year to stay updated with what all I have missed.

One of my friends was talking to me and casually remarked that the last post I saw in your blog was an award. You seem to have disappeared and run away with the award, never to come back..Aaahh..Her words were more than enough for me to get revived..It just stuck me like a sharp arrow directly onto my heart {just kidding :)}.. Good that she told me..I know how much my dear friends missed me..So did I miss you guys.
And so I will stop blabbering right here and give you the yummy yummy recipe for Paal Payasam.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - About 1 Tbsp
Ghee - 2 Tbsp {1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp}
Cashew nuts - 5-6
Sliced Almonds - 4-5
Milk - 1 liter (About 4 cups)
Sugar - 1/4th cup
Saffron - A couple of strands dissolved in a tablespoon of milk (optional)
An empty stainless steel cup


Method:

• In a small pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and roast cashew nuts and set aside.

• In a Pressure cooker or a small pan, add 1 tbsp of ghee.

• Roast the Basmati rice until a nice aroma comes from the rice.

• In the same pressure cooker add 4 cups of milk. Also drop in the empty stainless steel cup. The cup is added so that the milk does not boil over while cooking.

• Cook the milk on low flame for about 30-45 minutes.

• Once done, remove the lid, stir the milk well and then add the sugar in the milk. Cook for an additional 15 minutes on low flame.

• Add the saffron strands dissolved in milk for additional flavor and color and add the cashews roasted in ghee. This step is optional for those who do not use saffron or cashewnuts.

• Garnish with sliced almonds and serve hot.

• Yummy Paal Payasam is ready to be served.

Notes:

• Do not add sugar while cooking the milk, else it will not cook properly.
• Use of raisins, cashews, saffrons and almonds is completely optional. Since the dish is Paal Payasam, the taste of milk is supposed to be the dominant one.
• An empty stainless steel cup is added to the milk while cooking so that the milk does not boil over and spill.
• If you do not like the long strands of basmati rice, you can use a potato masher and mash up the rice in the milk.