Fine Flavours: ADA PRADHAMAN

Hello every one..yesterday me and husband was talking about vishu and realized we r already in the end of march and there is only one month to go for vishu. How time flies , last year this time my mom was with me here in Houston. hmmm..I miss her.Which made me think about the amazing sadhya she made last year and suddenly i got this craving for ada pradhaman .I couldn't wait till this vishu to make it ..So i decided to make ada pradhaman yesterday itself ..Luckily i had all ingredients in my pantry (thanks to my habit of stocking every thing).For all those who dont know what exactly ada pradhaman is ,its a kind of payasam which we keralites usually make during festivals like onam and vishu..Its a combination of ada(rice flakes), jaggery and coconut milk.I love this dish so much that i don hav words to express how much i love it..U give ada pradhaman to me at any time of the day and i can have it till the last drop :)..So here goes the recipe for my favorite dish.

1.Ada - 1 cup (i used store bought packet ada)

2.Jaggery - 1/2 cup (u can adjust this according to the sweetness u want)

3.Thin coconut milk - 2 cups

4.Thick coconut milk - 1 cup

5.Cumin seeds - 1tsp (crushed)

Dry ginger (chukku) powder - 1 tsp

Cardamom - 3-4 (crushed)

6.Cashew nut - 2 tbsp

Small cut coconut slices - 2 - 3 tbsp

Boil ada in 3 cups of water ,till its soft .Strain ada in cold water and keep it aside.This will remove the stickiness of ada. Melt jaggery in 3-4 tbsp of water.Strain jaggery and keep aside.Mix jaggery ,1 tbsp ghee and cooked ada in a pan ,cook it on low flame till it thickens and ada gets nicely combined with jaggery. Now add thin coconut milk.let it cook for some time.When it comes to a boil add thick coconut milk, cook for 3 - 4 minutes stir well in between.Add number 5 ingredients just before removing from flame. In another pan heat 2 tbsp ghee ,fry number 6 ingredients till golden brown.finally add this to the pradhaman. Serve hot

NOTE:Ada pradhaman will thicken itself after some time ,so if you want its consistency to be more watery add more thin coconut milk while cooking.