Paal Payasam / Ambalapuzha Pal Payasam

Paal payasam or ambalapuzha pal payasam is a very popular milk and rice based pudding of Kerala and Tamil nadu, prepared in special occasions and festivals. Red rice, milk and sugar are cooked together to form this luscious and creamy sweet delight. Paal payasam needs only few ingredients and is very easy to make.
Ambalapuzha is a small town of Kerala which is noted for its Krishna temple in which this payasam is served as prasad ( an offering to God). So it is also called ambalapuzha pal payasam. 
What makes this paal payasam different from other recipes of rice kheer is the type of rice used. Red parboiled rice or unakkalari or chemba rice of Kerala is used in the making of this paal payasam. Red rice is very nutritious and healthier than any other regular rice plus it has a unique, robust and earthy flavor which makes paal payasam so delectable and quite healthy. Red rice can be a bit difficult to find outside of Southern India so if you don’t find it then use brown rice instead, though the earthy taste will be little compromised but it will still maintain the taste of paal payasam. Traditionally, paal payasam is cooked in uruli ( a wide and deep vessel used in Kerala for cooking ) but if you want to save some time, pressure cooker is the best available option.

Paal Payasam / Ambalapuzha Pal Payasam / Kheer in Pressure Cooker

Recipe by Neha NairCourse: DessertCuisine: Indian, KeralaDifficulty: Medium

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Paal payasam is pudding made from Red rice or brown rice with milk, sugar and cardamon.

Ingredients

• 1 ltr + 1 cup of milk, boiled

• 1/4 cup of Kerala red rice (unakkalari) or use brown rice

• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of sugar 

• 2 Tbsp of broken cashews

• 3 cardamom, powdered

Directions

• Roast rice in a hot pan for 4-6 minutes over low-medium heat. 
• When the rice is cool enough to handle, put it into a food processor or grinder and give it 4-5 quick pulse. You just want to break it into pieces. Do not grind it fine.
• Then in a pressure cooker, add 2 cups of boiled milk, 1.5 cup of water and rice. Turn on the heat.
• When the milk mixture comes to boil, put on the lid and whistle and cook rice over low heat to 4-5 whistles. Let the steam goes down by itself. 
• Meanwhile heat rest of the milk in a pan over low heat, stirring in between, until it becomes half of its volume.
• When the cooker is safe to open, remove the lid and add the cooked rice mixture into the milk.
• Add the sugar, cashews and mix well. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Lastly add in the cardamom and switch off the heat. Pal payasam is done and ready to serve.