Ada Pradhaman

Every time I go to  my in-laws place in Trichy, I try and visit my friend Ruby whenever possible. She makes it a point to welcome us with lip smacking lunch. And it was in her place that I first tasted ada pradhaman. I instantly fell in love with this unique payasam and wanted to try it at home. She was sweet enough to give me  this recipe and her stock of rice ada, which she had brought from her husband’s hometown, Asaripalam, close to Trivandrum. This is a traditional Kerala dish and finds a special place in all their family functions.  Ada is steamed flakes made of rice paste. Ready made rice ada is available in all the stores. Ada pradhaman is an integral part of the onam sadhya. The taste of this dish is so unique that everyone insists on a second serving.

This dish is cooked completely in coconut milk and tastes too good. Coconut milk and jaggery is a match made in heaven. Garnished with cashews, you cannot afford to miss it. Don’t wait for a special occasion to have ada pradhaman as a dessert ☺. 

Prep time: 40 min|Cooking time:20 min
Course: Dessert|Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients:

Ada- ½ cup

Grated jaggery- 1 cup

Thin coconut milk- 2 cups

Thick coconut milk-1 cup

Grated coconut- 1 tblsp

Ghee- 1 tsp

Cashews-10(broken into half)

Method:

1.       Heat water in a kadai and when it starts boiling, switch off the stove. Add the ada to the hot water and rest it for 30 min. By this time, it would be semi cooked. Then drain the water and wash the ada under running water, to avoid stickiness.

2.       Add the thin coconut milk to a kadai and let it boil. Once it starts bubbling, add the semi cooked ada and stir it. Cook on low flame until ada is cooked

3.       When ada is fully cooked, add the jaggery  powder. Keep stirring now and then for 5 min, so that the jaggery mixes well with the coconut milk and ada.

4.       Add the grated coconut and mix well.

5.       Finally lower the flame and add the thick coconut milk, little by little. Switch off flame immediately.

6.       Garnish with cashews fried in ghee.

Notes:

·         Thick coconut milk is the first milk we take from grinding a coconut. Thin coconut milk is the second and third milk. We can use one full coconut for this recipe as the whole process of cooking is done only with coconut milk.

·         Switch off flame immediately after adding the thick coconut milk. If you let it boil, it might curdle.

·         The payasam will thicken as it gets cold.

·         You can add cardamom powder along with thick coconut milk. I have avoided as my kids don’t prefer the taste. 

·         Adding grated coconut is optional.

·         Check for sweetness and increase or decrease jaggery quantity accordingly.

Step by step pictures

 ready made rice ada.

 boil water and switch off stove. 

add the ada to hot water and rest for 30 mins.

 wash under running water .

 fry cashews in ghee

 fried cashews ready.

 boil thin cococnut milk and add the semi cooked ada.

when ada is fully cooked add jaggery powder

 add grated coconut

 add thick coconut milk,little by little

 and switch off flame immediately.

garnish with fried cashews and enjoy.