Indian rice pudding/ Bellam Paravannam

Paravannam derived from Parama + annam literally means supreme rice or nectarean food. This rice pudding from India is considered just that. Often and almost always cooked as an offering to the God, this is quintessential naivedyam (offering).

An authentic way of doing this of course is boiling raw rice in milk. Today I used a cheat code, as I had to tend to other things. I loved the result.

1 cup of washed raw Sona masuri rice
2 cups of water
3 cups of whole milk
1.5 cups of peeled jaggery
6 green cardamom pods
1 tsp of sugar to help grind the cardamom seeds
1/4 cup of cashews
1/4 cup of golden raisins
2 tbsp of clarified ghee (clarified butter)

• Boil the rice with water in a pressure cooker for 20 mins(5 whistles). The rice should be a little gooey soft.
• Transfer this into a thick bottomed sauce pan. Add the milk and simmer for 10 mins, stirring continuously to make sure it does not burn
• Turn the heat to low and stir in the jaggery to cook and simmer for 10 mins more. Till all the jaggery dissolves. The milk by now thickens
• Meanwile in a small wok heat ghee and fry the cashews and raisins till golden brown
• In a mortar and pestle grind the cardamom seeds with sugar to a fine powder
• Stir the cashews, raisins, cardamom powder into the rice. (If you are making this as naivedyam you obviously cannot taste it before the offering, You can cook iwth your nose and smell how sweet it is. Or if you can taste it adjust the milk and the jaggery levels)
  

Serve it hot or cold. Some like it hot.