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beginner, Easy Indian Cooking, Festival Recipes, Indian, Sweets, Tamil Brahmin Recipes

Cashew Nut Payasam – A quick Indian dessert with just 5 ingredients

April 14, 2006

cashew nut payasam
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Recipe for quick and easy cashew nut payasam

cashew nut payasam

Payasam, a pudding made by reducing milk with the addition of grains (rice / wheat), lentils (chana dal), processed grains (semia / beaten rice) or nuts (almonds / cashews) or even vegetables (carrot / pumpkin), is a very popular sweet dish in Indian kitchens.  On most auspicious days, there will be one payasam or the other prepared in my grandmother’s kitchen, even if it is the utterly simple mix of melted jaggery, cooked rice and some milk, with a sprinkle of cardamom powder.

My mom makes the regular Paal Payasam- which is the gold standard made by reducing milk until it is a pale pink in colour with some added rice grains or Semiya Payasam- made with vermicelli and milk. Most payasams or kheers have a long cooking time as the milk needs to be kept on a slow simmer until it is reasonably thick, acquiring a mildly caramelised rich taste.

Check out some other quick Indian dessert recipes for festivals:

Instant 2 ingredient coconut laddoo

Instant besan laddoo in microwave

Easy Kesar Burfi with milk powder

My cashew nut payasam recipe is a quicker version and uses cashewnuts instead of the traditional rice or vermicilli.

cashew nut payasam

Cashew Nut Payasam

Recipe for quick and easy cashew nut payasam - an Indian milk pudding with cashew nut paste and saffron
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 4 hours hrs
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 4 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups toned milk you could use whole milk too
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup cashew nuts
  • Few strands saffron
  • 1 tbsp raisins

Method
 

  1. To make cashew nut payasam, start by preparing cashew paste. Soak the cashews in water overnight / for few hours. Drain and grind with 1/2 cup of milk into a very fine paste. To shorten the prep time, you could also soak them in water and microwave on HIGH for 3 min. Let them remain in that hot water for 5-10 more minutes. Once cooled, drain and grind nuts with milk as explained above.
  2. Boil the milk on the side in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Once it has come to a boil, add sugar and raisins and let it simmer on a low flame for 8-10 minutes. Add the cashew paste and half the saffron strands. Make sure you keep stirring so that the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
  3. The cashew paste will thicken the milk such that it will lightly coat the back of the ladle. It's time to remove it from the flame.
  4. Garnish with 2-3 strands of saffron and you can either chill it or serve it warm.

Photo credit

Festival recipes Indian sweets milk
by Nandita Iyer 
6 Comments

About Nandita Iyer

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Comments

  1. sailu says: April 14, 2006 at 8:51 am

    Happy New Year,Nandita!That picture is lovely

    Reply
  2. Tanuja says: April 14, 2006 at 1:17 pm

    Hi Nandita,Wish U and Ur Family A Very Happy New Year.

    Reply
  3. Priya says: April 14, 2006 at 2:11 pm

    WIsh u a very happy and prosperous new year nandita.

    Reply
  4. Vineela says: April 14, 2006 at 8:32 pm

    Hey,Puthandu Nal Vazhthukkal to u and ur family. Vineela

    Reply
  5. Lakshmi says: April 14, 2006 at 11:04 pm

    happy new year.

    Reply
  6. Ameya says: January 17, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    Hey Nandita … I am the types who dabbles in the kitchen once in a while … Must tell you that your recipes are incredibly easy and turn out extremely well ! My wife is beginning to take notice of my culinary skills .. Thanks and keep posting !

    Reply

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