Moong Dal Kheer | Pesarapappu Payasam - ONAM Sadya Recipes

Moong dal kheer is one of the easiest kheer varieties to prepare and is also my most favorite one.My mom used to make this quite often, saying that it will give a cooling effect to the body.She always prepares this kheer which would be of the consistency of a thick milkshake and hence she always used to serve this in a glass.Though the ingredients are similar the taste and consistency is entirely different. I would post that recipe too later.

Back home, all the sweet varieties are made up of sugar at my place as my mom does not like jaggery.She would make the sweets with jaggery sometimes, if I insist but it used to be double work for her, as she would prepare the sweet with sugar too. It is possible that this is the reason,why even I used to prefer sweets made with sugar rather than jaggery.Over a period of time, even I developed the taste for jaggery and now I prefer using jaggery instead of sugar for a healthy version. For kheer etc though I still prefer using sugar,but today's recipe though is made of jaggery. In Kerala they make this kheer with coconut milk and also the fried coconut bits are added to the kheer,I am posting the version what we make at home.
Moong dal Kheer | Pesarapappu Payasam Recipe:
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Moong dal(yellow variety)
1/2 cup + 1tbsp grated Jaggery
1 cup whole cream Milk
1 1/2 cups Water
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
10-12 Cashew nuts,broken
1 tbsp Ghee
Method:

• Heat ghee in a thick kadai and add cashew nuts and fry them until they turn light golden brown in color and keep them aside.
• In the same kadai add moong dal and fry until it turns slightly red in color.
• Meanwhile boil water in another vessel and add the boiling water to the roasted moong dal.
• Cook this for 12-15 mins until moong dal splits and is cooked.It should be properly cooked and also should not become mushy.You can even pressure cook this for 2 whistles.
• Add grated jaggery to it and boil for 5-7 mins until the jaggery is melted and the kheer starts thickening.
• Add boiled milk to it and simmer for another 5 mins.Feel free to add more milk if you want slightly a thin kheer.Also adjust the jaggery if adding more milk according to your taste.
• Add cardamom powder and fried cashew nuts and mix well and switch off the flame.

Serve it hot/cold/warm or at room temperature.
Notes:

1. You can substitute jaggery with equal quantity of sugar in the recipe.Sugar will make the kheer slightly yellowish.
2. This would yield a slightly thick kheer,if you want thin kheer add more milk to it,accordingly adjust the sweetness by adding extra jaggery.
3. You can also add fried raisins along with cashew nuts to the kheer.
4. You can make the kheer really rich by even pressure cooking the moong dal in complete milk,in that case you would need approximately 3 cups of milk.
5. The kheer tends to thicken along with time,hence switch off the flame accordingly.
6. You can even add fried coconut pieces(in ghee) to the kheer for a typical Kerala touch.
7. For a Vegan version substitute milk with coconut milk in the recipe and avoid frying cashew nuts in the ghee.