'Kodo Millet' Paramannam / Arikala Paramannam

After last week's A - Z Karnataka Recipes theme, I am moving onto the theme of festival recipes this week keeping in mind the upcoming Sankranthi festival. Somehow savory and sweet pongal versions and paramannam kind of dishes have become synonymous in the southern parts of India with this harvest festival. However my mother was mentioning recently in one of our chats that she doesn't remember a single Sankranthi festival meal where her mother had prepared a pongali / paramannam. Her mother would prepare ariselu / athirasam or boondi laddu. Of course, ariselu, a traditional sweet dish uses the harvested rice and would have made perfect sense for the season if one didn't mind the extra labor involved in pounding the rice and the deep frying part. My mother has somehow moved the dish to the Diwali category since it is prepared commonly during then in Bangalore area and also times it during our visits to India since it happens to be my husband's favorite sweet dish. 

My mother is also content preparing a sweet pongal dish like this albeit a traditional version using rice on Sankranthis. My version today uses kodo millet which tastes utterly delicious, almost similar to rice and comes handy if avoiding rice. The recipe can be easily doubled and the preparation is quite simple and easy one. If you have any other millet handy like proso, barnyard, foxtail or little millet, they can be substituted for kodo millet here. Even quinoa, cracked wheat can be used. Or stick to rice, the original version. A little dal is always added while making rice based sweet dishes for auspicious occasions since the plain rice versions are made during death anniversaries. The color of the dish depends upon the color of the jaggery being used in the recipe. No need to fret or run to store in case if one doesn't have jaggery on hand. It can be easily replaced by sugar. Actually I enjoy the sugar and the coconut combination in the traditional rice version more. And coming to edible camphor, a tiny pinch is all that matters for that divine taste which resembles the temple prasadms. A tad more would result in an overbearing flavor. Ghee can be used as generously as one would wish. And finally don't skip the coconut if possible since it enhances the flavor of the dish. 

Ingredients:
1/4 cup kodo millet
1 tbsp. split yellow gram / Bengal gram (Moong dal or Chana dal) 
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
1/2 cup powdered jaggery
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
A pinch of edible camphor
1 to 2 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. cashews

Directions:
1. Rinse kodo millet and dal with water and drain. Pressure cook kodo millet and dal adding 1/2 cup milk for 3 whistles. Add a small spoon to the millet container while cooking to prevent milk from boiling over. (It can be cooked directly in a pot as well on medium flame and the liquid quantity may need to be adjusted as needed (usually more). Milk can be replaced with water in this step to avoid the milk from boiling over while cooking. Keep stirring to avoid millet sticking to the bottom of the pan while cooking or use a non stick pot to make the job easier.)  

2. Heat ghee in a small pan and add raisins and cashews. Toast them until cashews turn golden brown and raisins turn plump.

3. Transfer the toasted raisins and cashews with a slotted spoon on to a plate. To the same ghee, add the cooked millet, coconut, jaggery, and cardamom.

4. Mix well and add the remaining milk. Stir well. Cook on medium flame stirring intermittently until the mixture starts to bubble. Simmer on low heat for about 3 - 4 minutes until all the jaggery melts and incorporates into the mixture. Finally add edible camphor if being used and turn off the stove. Add the toasted cashews and raisins as well. Stir well and serve warm. It tastes good even when cold. Leftovers can be refrigerated and warmed before serving.  

Some points to be noted:
1. I directly added jaggery to the millet mixture since it was clean. In case the jaggery appears not clean, melt it separately in a small pan adding small amount of water and filter the solution. There is no need to add too much water since we don't need the paramannam to be very diluted.
2. Sometimes the milk may split when added to jaggery directly and cooked. It has not happened to me but in case if you suspect that to happen and to be on a safer side, the addition of milk can be omitted in step 4. Instead, the milk can be boiled and cooled separately and added to the mixture after turning off the stove.

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