In most South Indian homes, rice payasam is prepared during festivals, celebrations and religious ceremonies. It is offered to the Hindu gods or deities as Naivedyam during the puja. After the offering it is distributed among the family & friends as prasadam. Traditionally rice payasam was prepared with jaggery as it is believed to be a wholesome & purest form of natural sweetener. Cow’s milk & ghee were used as a custom especially when prepared for offering. A generous pinch of cardamom powder is used to flavour the dish. Rice payasam is slow cooked for a delicious, rich and creamy texture. There are a few different ways of preparing the dish. I am sharing the method we follow at home. For variations, we also add 2 tbsps of roasted moong dal or chana dal depending on the occasion.

How to Make Rice Payasam (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

  1. Wash rice few times. Soak it till the milk comes to a boil.
  2. Rinse a heavy bottom pot. Set the flame to medium. Pour milk and bring it to a boil. Rinsing helps to prevent the milk solids sticking at the bottom.
  3. Drain off the water from rice and add it to the boiling milk.
  4. Cook till it is soft cooked and mushy. While the rice is getting cooked, keep stirring every few minutes to prevent the payasam getting burnt at the bottom.

Make Jaggery Syrup

If your jaggery is clean and free from debris then you can skip making syrup and just add the grated jaggery to the payasam towards the end. 5. Add jaggery and water to a pan and begin to heat it. 6. Boil it on a medium heat until it turns sticky. There is no string consistency needed but the syrup has to be slightly thick & sticky. This enhances the taste of the rice payasam. 7. When it turns sticky, turn off the stove and set aside to cool completely.

Make Rice Payasam

  1. Keep checking the rice. It needs stirring often.
  2. Check if the rice is soft cooked by mashing a few grains of rice. It must be soft and get mashed easily. Mash the rice with the ladle lightly. This helps to thicken the rice payasam.
  3. Add fresh ground cardamom powder. 11.The jaggery syrup has to be cooled completely. Then turn off the stove and filter the syrup to the cooked rice. Note: Adding hot syrup to the milk, will curdle the payasam.
  4. Give a good mix.
  5. Heat ghee in a small pan.
  6. Fry cashews until light golden. Then add raisins. When they sweel up. Turn off the stove.
  7. I prefer to cool this a bit and add to the payasam. If offering as naivedyam, cool the rice payasam completely and then offer. For more Traditional Andhra festival recipesChakkara pongal with jaggerySagubiyyam payasamPoornam booreluGarelu

Recipe Card

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