Pineapple Rava Payasam

Festivities seem to gain more vigour and valour when you are away from your home country. Onam is one such festival and you can find onam celebrations happening till it is time for Christmas celebrations. Every weekend for the next two months in the UAE you are sure to find atleast one person in the traditional Kerala kasavu mundu/saree heading for Onam celebration somewhere. Pookalam ( floral designs), Thiruvathira (traditional dance form),vadam vali (tug of war), sadya (the grand meal) all form a part of this rich festival. This year is no less and I am counting on 3 sadyas this year.

Just like Cake is to Christmas, Payasam is to Onam!

Make a sadya or not -payasam is inevitable. This year I wanted to try some milk based payasam other than the semiya payasam. That is when my cousin suggested pineapple. I googled up a few recipes but wasn't quite convinced to try it out myself. Pineapple Rava Kesaribath is one of my favorite food - that is when it struck me to incorporate rava also into the payasam. This payasam just happens to be a modified milky version of the Kesaribath.

Ingredients

1. Pineapple - 1 cup
2. Rava/Semolina - 1/4 cup
3. Milk - 2 cups
4. Water - 1 cup
5. Sugar - 1/4 cup
6. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Raisins 
8. Cashewnuts
9. Ghee - 3-4 tbsp

Method

• Heat ghee in a deep bottom pan and fry the cashew nuts and raisins till it turns golden brown and fluffs up respectively.
• In the same pan, add the chopped pineapples and fry till the color begins to slightly change color. 
• Remove the pineapples from the ghee and add semolina/rava. Fry till the color begins to change. Ensure not to burn it.
• Add 1 cup of water along with sugar and let this cook on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Pour in the milk and keep stirring for 5 to 10 minutes until the payasam reduces and thickens.
• Add the cardamom powder along with the pineapples.Cook for another 2 minutes before finally adding the raisins and cashew nuts and switching off the flame.

You may also note

• Keep stirring the payasam inorder to prevent it from burning at the bottom.
• Pineapples can be added at two stages. Either along with water at the beginning or at the end. Some bloggers have mentioned curdling of milk if the pineapples are added at the beginning. However mine did not curdle although I added it along with water right at the beginning. If you are skeptical, you could always add it at the end like mentioned in the recipe above.