Quick Semiya payasam | Sweet porridge with semolina

In this mega blogging marathon for the alphabet 'Q' I had to take help from English. There were no direct recipe names in malayalam - so I chose this quick semiya payasam and believe me - this recipe is really quick. South indian meal is incomplete without a sweet ending of Payasam and this definitely holds good for Kerala Sadhyas. In Kerala, the payasams can be broadly classified into 2 types - one which is made of milk + sugar + some other ingredient and the other one made with jaggery + coconut milk + some other ingredient.

The Onam celebrations in kerala start 10 days before the actual festival on "Atham". And in olden days all the 10 days we had one or the other payasam for lunch. But now a days payasams are made on the first day (Atham) and then on the festival day. So first day generally people make very easy payasams and the recipe I am posting here would be ideal for this.

This payasam is cooked in a pressure cooker and not with condensed milk, though the taste of the payasam makes you wonder if there is condensed milk in it. Since milk is pressure cooked for 30 min and opened after another 30 min, the milk will turn light pinkish in colour and slightly thicker. I used full fat milk and added only a teaspoon of ghee to lightly fry the cashewnuts and raisins. 

Ingredients:

Milk - 1.5 litres

Sugar - 1 cup

Roasted vermicelli - 4 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Cashews / raisins - 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Add 1 litre of milk to the pressure cooker. Close the cooker, put the whistle and put the cooker on high flame. When the whistle is about to go....immediately simmer the fire for about 30 min. After 30 min switch off the fire and leave the cooker unopened until all the pressure releases.
• Meanwhile on the other stove - in a kadai add ghee and fry the cashews and raisins and keep it aside.
• In the same kadai or another vessel - add the rest of the half litre of milk and add the roasted vermicelli. Keep stirring until the vermicelli is cooked well. Switch off flame
• Open pressure cooker you will notice that the milk has become slightly pink - Add the cooked vermicelli along with the milk. Add sugar, mix well and heat the payasam for another 10 minutes and switch off flame.
• Add the cardamom powder and cashews/raisins to garnish.

Semiya payasam is ready!!! 

Notes:

• If you are using plain vermicelli do not forget to fry them in a tsp of ghee, I used roasted vermicelli available in stores these days.
• The pressure cooker needs to be very clean otherwise the milk will curdle.
• It is also important to wait near the cooker while the steam builds up and when the whistle is about to go, simmer it for 30-40 minutes. Don't let the whistle to go.

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