Akaara Vadasal / Rice-Lentil Pudding
Akaara Vadasal / Rice-Lentil Pudding
An absolute favourite of the Tamil speaking Indians. It’s a jaggery based milk dish that oozes flavour. Filled with saffron, roasted cashew and raisins, it tastes Divine. It is made for special occasions especially in a traditional Tamil wedding. Famous in the district of Thirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, this thick creamy dessert tastes amazing when served warm or hot. Do give it a try and it will never go wrong.
https://youtu.be/0-KmTtiZTSo
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 2 tbs husked split green gram
- 2 cup full cream milk
- 1/2 cup palm sugar / jaggery
- 1/2 cup sugar (optional)
- 200 g condensed milk
- a few strands of saffron
- 1/4 cup coconut, grated (optional)
- 5 whole cashews, broken into bits
- 2 tbs raisins, roasted in ghee (optional)
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 3 tbs ghee (optional)
Instructions
- Toast the lentil over fire for a few seconds until the aroma rises. Wash and clean the rice and cook with the lentil in 3½ cups of water until mushy.
- Add a quarter cup of water to the brown sugar and stir to melt over a low flame. Keep aside to cool. Prepare the saffron by mashing it in a little tablespoon of hot milk until the milk turns a deep orange. Keep aside.
- Roast the raisins in half a teaspoon of ghee until they puff up. Keep aside. Heat the milk over a medium flame for 10 minutes until it thickens.
- Stir the cooked rice and lentil, adding brown sugar, sugar, grated coconut and cashews, over a medium fire for three minutes until the mix becomes a creamy pudding.
- Add the cardamom powder, saffron milk, roasted raisins and the remaining ghee. Stir and remove from fire.
- TASTY TIP: Condensed milk is a tasty option. If adding a whole 200gms of it, do not add the sugar.
