പാലട പ്രധമൻ

Have you ever tasted Palada Pradhaman Payasam from Vinayaka? If not, stop reading this and buy one now from Vinayaka Foods | Ready to Eat, if you can. My mother-in-law bought this regularly from Vinayaka, whether it's onam or not. I follow this recipe if I am not in Kerala and feel like savoring some. I would never dare to make this if I could buy it from Vinayaka. 

This is my own recipe. I tweaked my semiya payasam for this. 

INGREDIENTS - makes 4-1/2 cups

1. 100 gms ada( I have used store bought dried rice ada)(roughly 3/4 cup ada)
2. 1 cup water
3. 5-1/2 cups whole milk
4. 9 Tbsp. sugar
5. 1/2 tsp salt 

METHOD 

• Caramelize 9 Tbsp. sugar with 3 Tbsp water in a pan on medium-high heat. Turn off the stove as soon as it turns brown at any spot. It will continue to caramelize. Just tilt the pan so that the caramelizing is uniform. Be on the watch; you do not want to over-caramelize and get a bitter-tasting one. I use the same method that I do in my caramel custard recipe. 
  
  
  
• Put the ada in a bowl and add 1 cup of water. Let soak for at least 30 minutes or overnight. 
• Both the caramelizing and soaking of the ada can be done overnight. 
• Put the soaked ada in a pan(not the pan with the caramelized sugar) with 4 cups of milk and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer and boil till the ada is soft.  
• Into the caramelized sugar pan, add 1-1/2 cup milk. Let the caramel loosen. Give it about 30 minutes time. Add the cooked milk and ada into the pan with the caramel and cook on medium heat till it starts to boil. Stir occasionally. When the milk comes to a boil, turn off the stove.  You will see the hardened toffee stick to the ladle.  You don't have to cook until the caramel completely dissolves in the milk. This will take time, and it will dissolve gradually. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• After about 1 hour, taste the payasam for sweetness. If the sweetness does not come in the first taste but later, add more salt to accentuate the sweetness. 
• The payasam will thicken as it sits and dilute if required, using water. 
  
  
  
  

NOTES

• When sugar is caramelized, it loses a little bit of sweetness and introduces the caramel flavor, which is an excellent addition to the payasam. 
• Extra salt is required for the caramelized product. 
• I got this idea for this recipe from the caramel recipe. But in most recipes, the cream is added immediately to the caramel. When I add milk to the hot caramel, it always curdles. So I wait for the caramel to cool and then add the milk. It will dilute into the caramel after about 2 hours. 
• The payasam will sit at room temperature in Seattle weather without spoiling for 48  hours.
• I have tried skipping the caramelizing part and cooking the payasam with all the ingredients on medium flame to get the pink flavor, but that takes a long time—2 hrs or more—and I stopped midway. 
• I used to make a pressure cooker ada payasam, but cleaning the pressure cooker later is a tough chore. I prefer the above method.