Ingredients:

• Moong dal, yellow (pesara pappu) – 1 cup
• Sugar – 1 cup
• Milk – 5 cups
• Poppy seeds (Khus-khus, gasa gasalu) – ¼ cup
• (Soaked in ½ cup of warm water for at least half an hour, to soften them)
• Cashews and Golden Raisins, each – ¼ cup
• Cardamom (Elachi, aluka) – 6
• Ghee (neyyi) – 2 tablespoons

Moong Dal Payasam (Pesara Pappu Payasam)

Prep Work:

• In an iron skillet or tava, heat a teaspoon of ghee on medium heat. Add and roast, yellow moong dal until the color changes from yellow to light red and releases the wonderful fragrance. Remove them to a plate. Aromatherapy starts with this first step.
• In the same iron skillet or tava, heat a tablespoon of ghee on medium heat. When it is hot, add and toast first golden raisins and then cashews. Golden Raisins puff up like little gold balloons and cashews turn from creamy white to light gold. Take care not to burn. Remove them to a plate.
• powder cardamom seeds to smooth powder in a mortar using the pestle or in a spice grinder.
• In a pressure cooker, take roasted moong dal, sugar, milk and soaked poppy seeds along with the water it’s soaked in. Mix and close the lid.
• Pressure cook until two whistles. Once all the valve pressure is released, remove the lid and with a wood-masher or immersion blender lightly mash the dal.
• Pressure-cooking is my method; I follow it mainly for the convenience of not stirring and for the speed. In actual recipe, they would take all the ingredients in a wide, thick-bottomed vessel and cook until the dal reaches fall-apart stage.
• If you don’t have a pressure cooker at home, then follow the second method. It may take little bit more time, but the end result will be worth the trouble, I promise.
• Add the toasted cashews and golden raisins along with the ghee they toasted in. Also stir in the cardamom powder to the cooked payasam. Have a taste and add sugar and milk, if needed.
• Simmer the payasam on medium-low heat about 20 to 30 minutes, until it reaches thick, creamy consistency. Serve warm or cold.

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