Nenthra Pazham Ari Pradhaman

Time is flying by quite fast. Feels like it was yesterday that we celebrated the last Onam. Onam brings with it a lot of cheer and freshness. The pookalam and the traditional attire is a delight to the eye  and the soul satisfying sadya for your palettes. Both of us are bought up outside Kerala and are not used to varied flavors of payasam or pradhaman. The safe bet has always been the semiya payasam, ari payasam, paripu payasam and palada pradhaman. And this year, it was time to try out something we hadn't tried earlier.

While sticking onto the traditional recipe, we have incorporated ari/rice as well ghee fried nenthra pazham chunks as well into the nenthra pazham ari pradhaman that we tried out.

Wishing you all a blessed Onam season. Meanwhile here is our recipe.

Ingredients

(Serves - 6)

1. Nenthra Pazham/Kerala banana - 3 medium
2. Jaggery - 100gm
3. Coconut Milk - thick extract - 1 cup
4. Coconut Milk - medium extract - 2 cups
5. Water - 1 cup
6. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Sona masoori rice - 1/4 cup
8. Ghee - 3 tbps
9. Cashew nuts
10. Raisins

Method

• Cut 2 of the plantain into three pieces each and steam them. Once done, set aside to cool. Pulse the steamed plantain to form a paste. 
• Half cook the rice in water and drain it.
• In a deep bottom vessel, bring 1 cup water to boil and add the jaggery. Let the jaggery melt. Strain it to remove impurities if any.
• Transfer the strained syrup back to stove and add in the mashed plantain. Stir well to combine.
• Pour in the medium coconut milk extract and bring it to boil. Reduce the flame and add the half cooked rice along with the cardamom powder. Stir well to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
• Once the rice is cooked, pour in the thick milk extract, Bring it to boil and reduce the flame. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes before you switch off.
• In a separate skillet, add ghee and fry the cashew nuts till golden brown and raisins till puffed up. Add this to the pradhaman.
• Cut 1 plantain into small chunks and stir fry them in ghee till the color just begins to change to brown. Pour this into the pradhaman along with the remaining ghee and give it a good stir.
• Serve it hot or cold as suiting your palette.

You may also note - 

1. In case your mashed plantain does not combine well with the jaggery syrup due to lumps, just pass it through a sieve and it will mix well.
2. I have not specified the amount of cashews and raisins that you may use since you could alter it as per your likes.