Photo: Prakrutim · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Punjab · Dessert

Payasam

Traditional 46. Payasam recipe

🧺 Ingredients

• 960ml whole milk
• 100g thick vermicelli or rice, broken into 2-inch pieces
• 120g jaggery or sugar
• 30ml ghee
• 20 cashews, fried
• 15 raisins, fried
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• pinch saffron strands

👩‍🍳 How to make Payasam

1. Fry nuts (3 mins, medium heat): Heat ghee, fry cashews until golden, remove. Fry raisins until plump, set aside.
2. Roast vermicelli (3 mins, low-medium heat): Add remaining ghee, roast vermicelli while stirring until light golden (visual cue: vermicelli changes from white to cream color, becomes fragrant).
3. Add milk (1 min, high heat): Pour milk slowly, stirring constantly (visual cue: vermicelli absorbs milk immediately).
4. Bring to boil (2 mins, high heat): Continue cooking until milk comes to rolling boil (visual cue: steam rises, milk level increases).
5. Simmer (8 mins, low heat): Reduce heat to low, cook while stirring frequently until vermicelli is soft and milk thickens (visual cue: vermicelli becomes translucent and tender, milk becomes creamy).
6. Add sweetener (2 mins, low heat): Add jaggery and cardamom powder, stir until jaggery dissolves completely (visual cue: mixture becomes sweet, brown color if using jaggery).
7. Add saffron (1 min): Add saffron strands (visual cue: golden color develops, saffron aroma rises).
8. Finish: Fold in fried nuts and raisins. Serve warm or chilled.

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