Pazham Pradhaman

Welcoming 2007 with this sweet treat from kerala.........Pazham Pradhaman !Pazham Pradhaman is cooked with ripe plantains knows as 'nendra pazham', jaggery and coconut milk. Traditionally it is cooked in a vessel called uruli. Cooking in uruli gives a better taste to the pradhaman.

Ingredients

250 gm - Extra ripe plantains
250 gm - Jaggery
1 big whole - Coconut grated (for extracting milk)

For Garnishing

1/4 cup - Coconut chopped into bits
1/4 cup - Cashew nuts
1/2 cup - Ghee ( clarified butter )

Method

1 ) Extract coconut milk three times with the grated coconut, using a blender. 1st extract - 1 cup, 2nd extract - 1 cup, 3rd extract - 1 1/2 cup. Set aside.

2 ) Chop the ripe plantains into 4 parts and steam cook till well cooked. Cool and then peel the skin off. Cut in the center and remove the seeds. Grind with little water to a smooth paste and set aside.

3 ) In little water melt jaggery and make a thick syrup. Strain to remove any impurities and set aside.

4 ) In a heavy bottom pan, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of ghee. Add the ground plantain paste and the jaggery syrup. Cook till it thickens to a Varattiyathu stage.

5 ) Add 3rd extracted milk. Stir and cook till it thickens up. Then add 2nd extracted milk and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the 1st extracted milk and take off the stove


6 ) In a pan fry coconut bits and cashew nuts in ghee till it's a golden brown in colour. Garnish the pradhaman with this.

Serve hot. Personally i like to refrigerate the payasam and have it cold.