Chanadal - Coconut Kheer

Any festival meal without a kheer is incomplete in our household or any south Indian home for that matter. It doesn't count how many other sweet dishes are on the menu that day. While vermicelli kheer used to be the most common one at my mother's place, this chanadal kheer was the most regular one in my MIL's kitchen. Though the traditional version doesn't contain any coconut, I like to add some, grinding it along with some cooked chanadal to make it thicker. I like the consistency of the kheer, prepared that way.

Ingredients:
1 cup chanadal
1.5 cup powdered jaggery (or adjust)
1/2 cup shredded, fresh coconut
1 cup milk (or as needed.)
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 Tbsp cashews & raisins toasted in ghee

Method:
* Pressue cook chanadal adding a cup of water until the dal turns mushy. If you don't own a pressure cooker, soak chandal in water for a couple of hours or overnight to quicken the cooking process. Cook in a pan adding water as needed.
* Meanwhile, heat milk in a pan and allow it to come to room temperature.
* Take about 1/3 portion of the cooked dal and coconut and grind them into a coarse paste. If you don't wish to add the coconut or grind the chanadal, then mash the chanadal as much as you can with the back of a ladle.
* Add the ground mixture and jaggery powder to the remaining cooked dal and bring to a boil, until the jaggery melts. 
If the jaggery used is not clean then it can be separately melted in another pan, adding a few Tbsp of water. Just filter it and add it to the chana dal. 
* Add the toasted raisin-cashew mixture, cardamom powder and the milk to the chanadal - jaggery mixture. Mix it well before serving.

Usually I add milk directly to the chana dal, after the jaggery is melted and bring the kheer to a boil. Though it had never happened to me, I have heard that sometimes the milk splits because of the jaggery used. If that is the case, then cool the milk and add at the end as mentioned above.

Check what other marathoners are cooking during BM#21 here.

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