Onam Payasam (Kheer)

1 cup chana dal 
1 1/2 cup water
¼ cup ghee
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup fresh shredded coconut
3 cups water to make fresh coconut milk

Preparing fresh coconut milk: blend coconut with one cup of water. Strain and save this first batch of coconut milk separately. Repeat this two more times using same coconut and rest of the water until you have another two cups of coconut milk.

Garnish
½ tablespoon ghee or unsalted butter 
1-tablespoon cashew pieces
1-tablespoon sweet golden raisins
1-tablespoon small coconut pieces
1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds (ilachi)
¼ cup saggu biyyam (sabu dana, chauvarry, or tapioka)

Cook saggu biyyam in ½ cup of water and keep it separate.

Fry cashews, raisins, and coconut pieces in ½ tablespoon of ghee, and set aside.

Wash chana dal couple of times and cook with 1 ½ cup of water in pressure cooker inverter for three whistles and turn the heat off. Take dal out of the cooker after the pressure is gone to open, and let it cool.
Transfer cooked dal to a nonstick frying pan and fry it with ghee in low heat for six minutes mixing continuously. Add brown sugar and second and third batches of coconut milk. Cook two minutes longer mixing often. Add the first batch of coconut milk, cooked saggu biyyam and fried cashews, raisins, coconut pieces, and cardamom powder. Cook for two minutes in low heat stirring. If the payasam is too thick add little water. 

Note: Don’t use any regular milk because it might curdle or break.

Our friends Leela and Dr. Sudersanan, from the state of Kerala, in India used to invite us for lunch every year for Onam festival and make this special payasam (kheer). Onam comes in the month of August. My thanks to Leela for letting me share this wonderful dish with my friends and readers..



Chegonies

2-½ cups water
¼ cup yellow mung dal (skinless) washed
1-teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed cumin seeds (jeera)
1-teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
1-cup rice flour
2 cups vegetable or canola oil for frying

Boil water in a 3-quart saucepan. Add mung dal and cook for three minutes. Turn the heat off and mix salt, red pepper, cumin seeds, ghee and rice flour. Mix thoroughly. Adjust salt and pepper according to your taste at this time. Knead the dough for two minutes with oily hands until the dough is free of any lumps. Make large marble size balls and roll each ball on oily smooth surface or in the palm of your oily hand to pencil thin four inches long sticks and join the ends to make a chegoni. Keep the chegonies in a cookie sheet or in a wax paper.

Heat oil in frying pan in medium high and fry the chegonies eight or ten at time (depending upon the size of the frying pan) until light golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon on to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. 

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