Thinai Payasam | Foxtail millet Kheer

Recently, at home, we have started including a variety of millets in our daily cooking. Mom makes tasty and healthy dishes like upma, dosa, pongal etc with millets! So, as we gear up for the festive season of Navarathiri, I decided to try out something sweet with foxtail millet (Thinai in Tamil) and came across the recipe in Padhu's Kitchen. I have modified the quantities and proportion according to my preference. If you are looking for a healthy and tasty prasad (divine offering), for the festive occasion, then this is a perfect recipe for you!

INGREDIENTS:

• Foxtail millet/Thinai - 1 measure *
• Water - 4 measures
• Jaggery - 2 measures **
• Ghee - 1 tablespoon
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Raisins/Cashewnuts/Almonds - as needed for garnish
• Milk - as needed

* The proportion for Thinai : Water : Jaggery  is 1:4:3 , A quarter cup of Thinai will be perfect to serve 4 (In that case, you need to use 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of jaggery)

** The jaggery I used was sweet enough. So this quantity was perfect for me, you can increase it to 2.5 measures

METHOD:

1. Melt ghee in a pan and fry the cashewnuts, almonds and raisins (I did not add cashews)
2. Remove the nuts from the pan and in the same pan, roast the millet, till a nice aroma arises. You can add more ghee if you wish to
3. Pressure cook the roasted millet with 4 cups of water for 4 whistles
4. In the meanwhile, add a quarter cup of water to jaggery and heat it for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and allow the jaggery to melt. Then strain the jaggery to remove any impurities
5. Mix the cooked millet, melted jaggery and cook on a medium flame. Allow it to boil well
6. Now add the fried nuts, cardamom powder and remove from heat
7. Add milk according to the consistency and sweetness that you require (I added about half a cup of milk)
8. Serve warm or chilled :)

Elaneer Payasam | Tender coconut payasam (No cooking required)

I would call this an absolutely refreshing summer treat! I have tasted elaneer payasam at a restaurant during thier special onam sadhya but that had jaggery in it and I personally did not like the combination. But later one day dad told me that he tasted a different version of elaneer payasam at a hotel during his official meetings and that he liked it very much. So after some recipe hunting, I found this absolutely easy elaneer payasam that requires no cooking!! Doesn't that sound interesting! Yes, it is such a simple recipe and can be made in a jiffy. Enjoy this in summer and keep cool :)

INGREDIENTS

• Tender coconut water - 1 and 1/2 cups
• Tender coconut flesh - 1 cup
• Sweetened condensed milk - 2-3 Tbsp
• Coconut milk - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Raisins, Almonds. cashew nuts - for garnish (Optional)

METHOD

1. Grind the tender coconut flesh
2. Mix the ground tender coconut flesh, tender coconut water, condensed milk, coconut milk and mix very well
3. Add cardamom powder and garnish with some nuts if required (I did not add any nuts)
4. Refrigerate it for atleast an hour and serve chilled!

Carrot Kheer (Carrot Payasam)

This is a super easy and very tasty kheer/payasam. The sugar that is to be added is also very less compared to the regular kheers/payasams, as the carrots themselves add to the sweetness.

INGREDIENTS

• Medium sized carrots - 6 to 8 
• Milk - 1/2 lt 
• Sugar - 3/4 cup  (depending on the sweetness of carrot and your preference, this can be varied)
• Cardamom powder - 1 Tsp
• Dry grapes, cashew nuts - for garnishing 

METHOD

1. Peel and dice the carrots into cubes. Then pressure cook them with very little water for 1 whistle
2. Let them cool for a while and then grind it into a smooth paste. If you want the kheer to be more rich, then while grinding the carrots you could also add a few soaked and peeled almonds
3. Mix the ground paste, milk and sugar and bring it to boil
4. Remove from flame and add the cardamom powder
5. Fry the cashew nuts and dry grapes in very little ghee and garnish the kheer with the nuts