Aval Payasam

One day while I was discussing with my husband about what payasam to prepare for our friends who were coming for dinner. Most of the times, after this kind of discussion, I end up making semiya payasam, since that is the easiest and there is very less to mess up with. And I can concentrate on the other dishes of the menu. And hubby is all happy for semiya payasam. But I was bored of preparing it. And I decided to go for aval payasam. Its long time since I prepared it. The preparation is almost similar to semiya payasam.

Aval/Beaten rice/rice flakes (thick variety) - 1/2 cup

Water - 1 cup

Milk - 1/2 litre

Sugar - 1/2 cup (Add a heaped cup if you want it very sweet)

cardamom powder- 1/2 tspn

cashew/raisin

ghee - 1 tblspn

Yellow color - a pinch (optional)

Heat ghee in a pan. Roast cashew and raisin. Drain them and keep it aside. In the remaining ghee, roast aval till brown. If you find some bran in the aval, rinse it in water after roasting. Add a cup of boiling water to the roasted aval. When aval is fully cooked, add milk. Bring to a boil and allow it to simmer till milk reduces in volume to 3/4 of the original quantity . Add sugar. Boil till the sugar is fully dissolved and blended well the liquid mixture. Stir in the roasted cashew and raisins and half a teaspoon of cardamom powder.
Remove from fire. Serve hot/cold

Note: To get an even texture of the rice flakes, you can pulse them in the mixer for few seconds after roasting.