Ada Pradaman - 250th post

My blogging journey has brought me to yet another milestone - my 250th post. I am also looking forward to the approach of my first anniversary. Special thanks to everyone who has encouraged me - husband and little one for enjoying my meals, my friends - blogging ones and the others for the feedback.

Remember - i always love to hear from you if you try one of my posts. If something did not come out well (hopefully not many), I would love to hear about that so I can work on my negatives. Click photos and add to my FB page. Oh while we are at it, please do like the page to see posts in your wall. Love you all.



In this post I present to you my favourite payasam - Ada Pradaman. Pradaman is a term used to describe payasam made of jaggery and coconut milk. Note that unlike normal payasams, sugar and milk are not the base ingredients. I made this as part of my Onam Sadya



Pradamans can be made with a variety of ingredients - Parippu Pradaman (channa dal, moong dal), Chakka Pradaman (jackfruit), Nedram Pazha Pradaman (Banana), Gothumbu Pradaman (Wheat), Ada Pradaman (Rice chip pasta) etc.

Ada is basically small chips made of rice flour. Traditionally it is made by making a paste of rice flour, smearing on plantain leaf and then either steaming it or by adding to boiling water. I have not perfected making it yet. So will post one day when I get it right. I used store bought ones this time.

Ada can be used to make Pradaman or Pal payasam. Usually small square chip ones are used for making pal payasam and long ones for pradaman. I really like the long ones and use that for both. Check out the pal ada payasam recipe in my blog. You can use a pasta as a substitute.



Ingredients

Ada - 1.5 cup (approx) (use pasta as substitute).
Jaggery 1 cup
Coconut milk 1 can (about 1.5 cups)
Cardamom 1/2 tsp
Cashew few
Raisins few
Coconut pieces 1 tbsp
Ghee (clarified butter) 1 tbsp (or use oil for Vegan)

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the ada in about 3 cups of water. It will take about 10-12 minutes. This depends on the ada. Follow packet instruction. You can make your own ada as well.

2. Once the ada is cooked, if there a lot water drain some. Mine did not. So I just kept the water.

3. In a separate pan, add jaggery and 1/4 cup of water. Melt and remove impurities if any.

4. Add jaggery to the ada along with cardamom powder. Remember that Jaggery will stop ada from cooking further. So make sure it is cooked before you add jaggery. This is true for all Pradamans.

5. Add coconut milk. Simmer the gas. If you keep in high it will curdle. I used store bought coconut milk. You can make your own milk. If you do, add the second (watery) milk first and once it is almost ready, add the first (thick) milk.

6. Once it gets heated up, switch off. Please note that pradaman will thicken with time. So make it a little watery if you are not serving for some time.

7. In a small pan, heat ghee. Add the coconut pieces. When it is slightly browned, take out and keep aside. Add cashews and fry till it is browned. Remove and add raisins. Add all of this to the payasam.



Linking this to Onam Special @ Sharan's Samayalarai