Rice Payasam

It is a festive dish and many South Indian festivals and religious ceremonies are incomplete without cooking & offering payasam to the deities.

This South Indian version of Rice Payasam is similar to the North Indian Kheer but sweetened with jaggery and a generous amount of ghee is used to impart a unique aroma.

Traditionally full fat cow milk, cow ghee and jaggery are used especially when offering to the Hindu deities during puja and homas/havan.

There are a few different versions of rice payasam. Some people use just the basic ingredients, while a different version uses a handful of moong dal along with rice. This kind of a payasam is also known as Bellam Pongali and is different from the Sweet Pongal.

A lot of people also make this for Sankranti, Lakshmi/ Durga puja & special occasions like house-warming ceremonies and festivals. Traditionally milk is left to overflow and then a handful of moong dal and rice is added.

In this post I have shared 2 different recipes for Rice Payasam – One is the basic paramannam and the second one is Bellam Pongali. I have the recipe card for the Bellam Pongali below, at the end of this post. I also have the instant pot version for the same.

How to Make Rice Payasam

Preparation

1. Wash half cup rice a few times. Soak it till the milk comes to a boil. Rinse a heavy bottom pot. Set the flame to medium. Pour 4 cups full fat milk and bring it to a gentle boil. Rinsing helps to prevent the milk solids sticking at the bottom.

2. Drain the water from rice and add it to the boiling milk.

3. Cook uncovered till it is soft and slightly mushy. While the rice is getting cooked, keep stirring every 4 to 5 minutes to prevent the payasam getting burnt at the bottom.

Make Jaggery Syrup

If your jaggery is clean and free from debris you can omit making syrup and just add the grated jaggery to the payasam towards the end. But this syrup method tastes more authentic and it smells extremely good.

4. Add ¾ to 1 cup jaggery (¾ cup for moderate sweetness) and half cup water to a pan and begin to heat it.

5. Boil it on a medium heat until it turns sticky. There is no string consistency needed but the syrup has to be slightly thick & sticky. Cool down a little syrup and test this. This enhances the taste of the rice payasam.

6. When it turns sticky, turn off the stove and set aside to cool completely. Avoid overcooking else your syrup will become too thick after cooling.

Make Rice Payasam

7. Keep checking the rice. It needs stirring often.

8. Check if the rice is soft cooked by mashing a few grains of rice. It must be soft and get mashed easily. Mash the rice with the ladle lightly. This helps to thicken the rice payasam.

9. Add half teaspoon fresh ground cardamom powder (4 cardamoms).

10. Make sure your rice and milk mixture is thick at this stage and the jaggery syrup is completely cool. Then turn off the stove and filter the syrup to the cooked rice. Note: Adding hot syrup to the milk, will curdle the payasam. I usually add only 80% of the prepared syrup at this stage and add the rest later if required.

11. Give a good mix. This is the right consistency and it will become thick after cooling.

12. Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a small pan.

13. Fry 10 cashews (20 split) until light golden. Then add 1 to 2 tbsps raisins. When they sweel up, turn off the stove.

14. I prefer to cool this a bit and add to the payasam.