Onam is a popular festival that is celebrated for 10 long days in Kerela. The harvest festival is observed with a grand feast called the Onam Sadhya, processions, and community celebrations. While the Sadhya involves serving a variety of dishes like aviyal, idiyappam, sambar, thoran, rasam, and so on, one of the most commonly prepared desserts is the creamy payasam.
You can make it in a lot of types like Parippu Payasam, apple Payasam, Semiya Payasam, Aval Payasam, and the list can go on and on. If you are preparing a traditional Onam Sadhya, don’t miss out on your favourite type of Payasam, which is almost similar to kheer, that is made in Northern parts of India. All you need to do is follow some simple tips and you can get a rich and creamy serving of the Indian dessert in your kitchen.
Choose The Right Ingredients
The first step to perfect any recipe is getting the right ingredients. While there are a lot of variations of payasam that can be made using rice, semiya (vermicelli), moong dal (lentils), and even oats, just make sure you pick the best quality of the grains. Also, when you come to deciding between sugar and jaggery, to give the payasam and authentic Onam flavour, go for high-quality jaggery.
Slow Cook
One of the easiest ways to perfect payasam is slow cooking. To get the perfect balance of flavours and achieve the right consistency, let the milk pudding slowly cook while you stir constantly to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Also, cook it on medium to low flame so that the milk does not start to curdle and the flavours get enough time to blend,
Consistency
Another factor that can or break the Onam dessert is the consistency of payasam. It should neither too runny nor too thick. Depending on the type of payasam, you can adjust the quantity of milk you are using but as a general guideline, you can aim for an ideal texture that should be creamy but not too thick, like custard. Since payasam will naturally thicken with time, you can remove it from heat once the consistency is slightly lesser than what you are aiming for.
Balancing Sweetness
Another important thing to keep in mind before serving payasam for Onam Sadhya is to perfect the sweetness of the dessert. If you are making it with jaggery, taste the jaggery syrup before adding it to the milk to get an idea of the deep level of flavour. On the other hand, if you are using sugar, add it gradually after tasting it a couple of times while stirring to avoid making the dessert too sweet.
Flavours, Spices And Nuts
The richness of payasam depends on the flavours, spices, and the generous addition of dry fruits and nuts. Once the payasam is thoroughly cooked, add in flavours and spices like cardamom pods, saffron strands, dry ginger powder, etc. You can also add chopped dry fruits like almonds, cashew nuts, and raisins while stirring or to garnish the payasam to make it even more indulgent.