Palada Pradhaman

 Palada Pradhaman is a traditional dessert from Kerala. It is rice pudding made with milk, ada, sugar, and caramel. Ada is a thin pasta made by spreading a thin layer of rice batter on a plantain leaf and steam cooked. The pasta is then cut into strips and then into small bits of pasta. This is then dried and stored. You can find ada in the Indian market. Ada pradhaman can be made in two different ways; milk and sugar or jaggery and coconut milk. Ada pradhaman is offered as prasadham (sacred food) in the temples in Kerala.

I made ada pradhaman with milk and sugar today for our anniversary. Adding caramel gave a unique taste and pink color to the pradhaman.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ada

4 1/4 cups (1 liter) whole milk 

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons sugar for making caramel sauce

1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Rinse dry ada under water. Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Remove from stove. Add rinsed ada and set aside for 15 minutes.

                                         

2. Strain the ada and rinse under cold water. Set aside. It should be al dente.

3. Take milk in a heavy bottomed pan or uruli. Cook milk on l to bring to a boil. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.

                                         

4. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar. Boil on low medium flame to reduce to half, about 45 minutes.

                                        

5. Now add the ada and stir. Simmer until it thickens, about 20 minutes. 

                                       

6. Meanwhile, to make caramel, place 2 Tablespoons sugar in a saucepan on low medium heat. Stir continuously when the sugar starts to melt and change color (amber).

                                       

7. Gently add 1/4 cups water while stirring constantly, to make the caramel syrup. Remove from stove.

                                       

8. Stir caramel syrup to the boiling pradhaman, and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn the stove off. The pradhaman will be a beautiful pink color.

                                       

9. Serve palada pradhaman hot or cold.

                                                 

Notes:

1. You can make the pradhaman without caramel as well. For this method follow the steps 1-5. Remove while pradhaman from stove while it is semi-runny consistency. Then add 1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamom.

2. You can add cashew nuts roasted in ghee to the pradhaman.

3. Make sure you rinse the ada in cold water so it does not get over cooked and stick to each other.

Pradhaman or pal payasam (kheer) doesn't require cashew nuts (my husband likes cashew and raisins in all payasams.