Hesarubele Payasa/Moong dal Kheer

Feels proud to be a south Indian – familiar with varieties of dosas, idlis, avalakki, akki rotti etc. Most of them come under healthy dishes that I categorize as less oil and less masalas used.
Both my mom and MIL are south Indian cuisine experts, I was never eager to learn south Indian delicacies from my mom before marriage. Now that we have moved to a place in UK where we don’t have any south Indian restaurants, no traditional south Indian social gathering I mean wedding, namakarana or homas and poojas where u get delicious payasa, chitranna, kosambri, gojjus, maduve mane happala wow many more…. I miss out on all those characteristic authentic south Indian dishes here.
This time with the winter being severe, Flu became our February month’s Family activity :(. So during that time I hunted for Hesarubele payasa and got the recipe.
I felt it’s a very simple and speedy dish. Generally this payasa is prepared during festive season. It provides high quality protein and aided us during those medicinal times. This was a silver lining for us after repeatedly having a boring menu of kattu anna (plain dal in rasam form with some minimal tadka). Yes we had hot steamed idlis with hesaru bele payasa and I was totally impressed with it :). Realisation struck to my mind ‘the importance of Hesarubele payasa and its nutritive value’ that my mom used to tell me always :).

Here goes the components and process for making Hesarubele Payasa.

Components:
Hesarubele/Moong dal – 1/2Cup
Ghee- 1Tbspn
Jaggery – 1/4Cup
Fresh grated coconut – 1/4Cup
Cardamom powder – 1/2tspn
Water – 1Cup
Milk – ½ to 1cup (as desired consistency)
Dry fruits roasted in ghee – cashew, dry grapes

Process:

• Roast the hesarubele/moong dal with the ghee in a pan on a medium heat till it gives out a nice aroma and slightly red in color.
• Cook dal with water in a pressure cooker. This might become a bit mushy.
• Meanwhile grind coconut and jaggery in a mixie to a fine paste.
• Add this paste, milk and if required a bit of water to the cooked dal and mix it well and bring it to boil. Make sure you stir it continusouly as it might catch the bottom.
• Add the cardamom powder.
• Garnish with dry fruits and its ready to be served.

Checkout for another easy and healthy south Indian recipe next Friday, till then have a great week ahead and Happy Shivaratri!!