Korra biyyam Payasam | Foxtail Millet Kheer | Easy Kheer Recipes

Various kinds of millets like Ragi,Jowar,Bajra and Foxtail millets have been widely used in cooking by my mom from a very long time.During my childhood, I always used to find reasons to avoid eating anything which is made up of these millets but its quite different now and I even carry back few millets and millet flours during my visit to Bangalore.

Coming to foxtail millets,I use them in making many varieties like pongal,kheer,salad,porridge and a soup with vegetables and the millets and I absolutely love them.It is a nice healthy alternative to the boring oats and try including them in your daily diet.The preparation of this kheer is slightly different from the regular kheer varieties as we add ground coconut-poppy seed mixture to make the kheer rich.If you avoid the coconut mixture in the recipe,the kheer tastes more like a porridge which is good as a healthy breakfast option but does not fit the title of rich payasam.

Korra biyyam Payasam | Foxtail Millet Kheer Recipe:

(makes 3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Foxtail millets/Korra biyyam

1 1/2 cups Water

2 1/2 cups(1/2 liter) whole Milk

1/3 cup grated fresh Coconut

1 tbsp Khus Khus/Poppy seeds

2 Cardamoms

1/2 cup Sugar or grated Jaggery

8-10 Cashew nuts,broken

2-3 tbsp Raisins

2 tsp Ghee

Method:

• Rinse the foxtail millets nicely and keep them aside.
• Boil water in a vessel and when it is boiling add the foxtail millets to it and cook on low flame until they are cooked and water evaporates.It takes roughly 10-12 mins.Take care that you do not burn it while cooking.Cooked millets looks like cooked rava.
• Meanwhile boil milk and reduce it to three fourth of its quantity.
• Grind grated coconut and poppy seeds with the cardamom seeds to a fine paste.
• Add the boiled milk to the cooked fox millets and let them come to a boil.
• Add sugar(or jaggery) and ground coconut-poppy seed paste and boil again for 5-6 mins on low flame.
• In a small pan heat ghee and add cashewnut pieces and fry them until they turn light golden brown in color and add raisins and fry until they plump up.Add the roasted dry fruits to the kheer and give a nice stir and remove them from flame.

Serve it warm/cold or at room temperature.

Notes:

1. The addition of coconut and poppy seed mixture adds the richness to the recipe otherwise it will taste like a simple porridge.
2. Rinse the fox tail nuts nicely to remove the dirt from it.