Onam Desserts
Onam Desserts
Payasam is the highlight of the Onam celebrations, made out of rice, jaggery, and coconut milk. It is usually served along with the other traditional sweets in the elaborate Onam Sadya.
Prepare a traditional Onam payasam by cooking rice or vermicelli in coconut milk with jaggery and cardamom until thickened. Garnish with fried coconut slivers and cashews.
Payasam is central to Onam, the harvest festival, symbolizing abundance and gratitude, and is traditionally served as the last course of the elaborate Sadya feast.
For beginners, a basic rice payasam made with condensed milk or a quick semiya payasam using vermicelli, which cooks much faster than traditional rice payasam.
Yes, you can make the payasam a day ahead and store it in the fridge. It will thicken when it gets cold, so you might need to add a little more milk and reheat gently on the stove.
You can also use jaggery instead of refined sugar for a guilt-free version, reduce the amount of coconut milk a little, or add more fruit to get the natural sweetness without having to depend on too much added sugar.
Fusion twists could be chocolate payasam with cocoa powder, mango-flavored versions with fresh pulp, or a chilled payasam parfait with fruit and nuts for a contemporary take.
Well-packaged laddoos, dry fruit sweets, or bottled payasam mixes are good for gifting, as they travel better than delicate, milk-based fresh preparations.
Cadbury Dairy Milk is good to be melted and added to payasam, giving a chocolatey twist to the dish. The creamy sweetness of the chocolate goes well with coconut milk without taking away from the traditional jaggery taste.
For an easy, decadent modern twist, stir melted Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate into warm payasam just before serving, or drizzle it over the finished dish.