Broken Wheat Pradhaman | Gothambu Payasam

• Heat a wide pan and add 1/4 cup of moong dal. Lightly roast the moong dal over medium heat and stir continuously, roast until fragrant, no need to brown the moong dal. Turn off the heat and transfer it to a bowl and allow it to cool down.
• In the same pan add 2 cups of broken wheat. Lightly roast the broken wheat over medium heat and stir continuously, roast until fragrant, should not change color. Do not over-roast. This will take about 3-4 minutes approximately. Turn off the heat and transfer it to a bowl and set it aside.
• Add both roasted broken wheat and moong dal into a large bowl and rinse 2-3 times and drain excess water from it.
• Cook the broken wheat and dal mixture with 5 cups of water over medium heat. Cover with a lid, and stir in between.

  Or Cook in a pressure cooker. In a pressure cooker, take 5 cups of water and add the roasted broken wheat dal mixture to it. Close the lid and cook for 3 whistles. Cook on high heat for 1st whistle and then reduce heat to low for the other 2 whistles. After that, turn off the heat, and wait for 10-15 minutes.

Prepare jaggery syrup

• Add 750 grams of crushed Jaggery into the deep-bottomed pan. Add 1/2 to 1 cup water and boil it until the jaggery dissolves completely while stirring.
• Turn off heat. Let it cool and strain it using a metal strainer. This is to remove any dirt from the Jaggery.
• Add jaggery syrup to cooked broken wheat dal and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer it for 15-20 minutes until it thickens while stirring often.
• Add 50 grams of sago (washed), and let it cook in the sugar syrup.
• Add 1 tbsp of ghee to it. Make sure that it does not stick to the bottom. The idea is to let the water evaporate and the broken wheat is soaked up in jaggery, like when it moves to a side it will stay. Add 2 tbsp ghee in between as needed so the broken wheat doesn't stick on the pan. In the traditional recipe, the broken wheat is stirred in jaggery syrup (sharkara pani) over medium-low heat to enhance the flavor.

Add Third & Second Extract of Coconut Milk

• Keep stirring and then add the Third Extract of coconut milk. Bring this to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and cook on low heat for a few minutes until it thickens (reduce the thin coconut milk by half). Add the second extract, and repeat the same over medium heat.
• Add 1 tsp cardamom powder, 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/4 tsp salt and mix well. Check the taste and add jaggery syrup or spices to your taste.

Add Thick Coconut Milk

• When it becomes thick again, add fist-thick coconut milk. Check the taste and add jaggery syrup if needed. Adjust to your sweetness. After adding the thick coconut milk do not allow it to boil as this might cause the coconut milk to curdle. Once it is warm and before starting to boil switch off the heat.
• Remove from heat. Keep covered until serving. This payasam tends to thicken over time so adjust the consistency by adding little warm milk or hot water as needed. Serve hot or warm.

Prepare Roasted Coconut Mix For Garnish

• Heat 2 tbsp ghee in another pan. Add Cashewnuts and fry until it becomes light brown in color. Remove from Pan and save it for garnishing the payasam.
• Fry sliced Coconut pieces in the same pan until it becomes light brown in color, remove fried Coconut from the pan.
• Now fry raisins until it gets fluffy. After 30 seconds, remove raisins from the pan.
• Sprinkle the fried coconut pieces, cashews, and raisins on top of the payasam. I love the fried coconut bits in the payasam!!