Rice ball payasam

RICE BALLS PAYASAM

INGREDIENTS

Rice flour / idiappam flour – 1 cup click here for flour recipe – Idiyappam recipe
Coconut milk – 3 cup click here – How to extract Coconut milk at home
Grated jaggery – 1 cup or as per taste
Cardamom pwdr – ½ tsp
Dry ginger pwdr – 1/2 tsp [optional]
Ghee – 1 tsp to knead
Sugar pwdr – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Hot water for kneading – as required
Saffron – few strands for garnish [optional]

PREPARATION

Take the grated jaggery + 3/4 cup water in a pan and cook tillthe jaggery melts completely . Allow it to cool and strain it to remove impurities.
Take the rice flour + 2 tbsp sugar pwdr + salt + 1 tsp ghee in a big plate , Add hot water little by little and knead it into a soft dough. Divide the dough into equal portion to make mini marble size balls. The balls should be smooth.
Take a lemon size portion of the dough + 1/4 of water in a bowl and make a lump free slurry – rice water.

METHOD

In a pan take the coconut milk + cardamom pwdr + dry ginger pwdr + rice water and keep it on medium flame.

As it starts boiling add the rice flour balls. [ few at a time ]

Stir in between , so that the balls don’t stick at the bottom.

Boil for 5 – 6 minutes on medium low flame . [ be careful as it can overflow ]

Lower the flame and add the jaggery syrup and simmer on low flame for a minute.

Paal kozhukattai / rice balls payasam is ready to serve. Serve few balls + little liquid in a serving bowl .

NOTES

The coconut milk I used was of medium consistency not very thick nor very thin.You can use 2 cup of thin coconut milk + 1 cup of thick coconut. Cook the balls in thin coconut milk and towards the end add thick coconut milk and off the flame.
We can cook the balls in regular milk instead of coconut milk .But be careful after add jaggery syrup sometimes the milk can curdle.
Instead of cooking the balls in milk , you can steam it separately and then add .
Why not garnish with few strands of saffron.
Instead of jaggery syrup we can use sugar .
For rich flavour you can use condensed milk but then lesser the quantity of sugar and add the condensed milk towards the end.
You can use 2 portion of boiled milk and 1 portion of coconut milk . Here be careful as the milk can curdle.
Use fresh coconut milk .
Dry ginger pwdr adds nice flavour .
While boiling you can also add 2 tbsp of freshly grated coconut to it.
Adding rice water [rice flour dissolved in water] gives a thick consistency to the coconut milk as it boils.
The dough has to be soft and smooth.
Instead of making balls .you can use a chakli press and make thick sevais and cook .
You can also add a pinch of edible camphor instead of dry ginger pwdr.