A New Home & Carrot - Vermicelli Payasam

A new home !! Yes, that is why I have been away from this space for the past few months. Beginning this year, we had been busy home hunting. Finally, we got the home of our choice this June. Gruhapravesham, the moving process and settling in at the new home took a while. Also M's SIL was visiting us from India and I was enjoying her company so much that I haven't peeked into my own blog recently. Our SIL is a wonderful cook and she was telling me that she had tried a payasam with carrots earlier. At the same time, I happened to see a cook show on some Telugu Channel which showed a similar recipe. I tried it the same day and it came out so wonderful that I have prepared a couple of times more in the past few weeks. What I liked about this payasam is it is a really simple preparation and it tastes divine. An irresistible combo of the rich milk, the creamy sweet carrots, the fragrant, nutritious almonds and the soft, melt in your mouth kind of vermicelli makes it a blissful treat to any palate. Required ingredients: Grated carrot - 1/2 cup (2 small carrots) Vermicelli - 1/2 cup Whole Milk - 2 cups Sugar - 1/4 cup Badam mix powder - 2 Tbsp Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp Cashew nuts - 1 Tbsp Ghee / Clarified butter - 2 tsp + 2 tsp Note that badam mix powder used above is not the powdered almonds / badam. It is the mix (like MTR / Orkay brands) available at Indian grocery stores to make badam milk. Try adding a Tbsp of this mix to any payasams and it transforms a simple payasam into a delectable expereience. Also using a nonstick utensil to make payasams is recommended as the contents don't stick to the bottom of the utensil. The Cooking part: Dry roast the vermicelli in a pan on a medium flame and remove when it attains slightly golden brown hue. If using pre-roasted vermicelli, skip this step. Also, You can use a tsp or two of ghee while roasting. Saute the carrot for a couple of minutes using 2 tsp of ghee in the same pan. Then add milk and heat it on a low-medium flame. Then add vermicelli and cook till it is done, stirring in between. Add sugar, badam mix powder and cardamom powder to the vermicelli - carrot mixture and let it cook till all the sugar melts. Turn off the heat. In the mean time, take a small pan and heat two tsp of ghee and roast the cashews till they turn golden brown. Add the fried cashews to the carrot - vermicelli payasam and mix well. This payasam can be served warm / chilled. This goes to JIHVA - Carrot hosted by The Cooker. Post a Comment Related Post: Carrot Payasam