Chakka Pradhman &Olan

Jackfruit Payasam/Chakka Pradhaman:

Pradhaman is usually prepared with lentils, or fruit like banana, mango and ripe jackfruit. This chakka pradaman is a dish I make for naivedhyam for Vishu. In tirnelveli dist some villages are near to kerala border.Since our both villages( Me & my husband) are near to kerala border.. So most of the food related to kerala & tirnelveli combination.Pradhaman is one of the dish often made in My family.. The payasams or pradhamans prepared out of jaggery, coconut milk and fruits like jackfruit, bananas and Palada Pradhaman, which is made of rice, sugar, and dried rice flakes or ada ,rice adais require elaborate procedures which are simplified a lot. To prepare this chakka pradhman , it’s necessary to use only ripe jackfruit.

Ingredients:

1. Jack fruit pieces- 10.

2. Nendram Pazham-1

3.coconut - 1( big) .

4. Jaggery- 2cups.

5. Ghee - 2 tablespoons.

6. Cardamom- 4 or5.

7. Cashews - few (handful)

8. Coconut milk 1 ½ cup thick

Method:

1.Cut the jack fruit and NendramPazham and cook for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool. In the meanwhile, dissolve the jaggery in 1cup of water and melt it, filter and continue to heat in low fire.

2.Now mash the cooked jack fruit pieces into a paste in a mixer and saute it in 1 spoon of ghee in a thick bottomed vessel, in which the payasam is to be made. Add the liquid jaggery to it and continue to cook it in low flame till both items blend together into a semi solid consistency. Put off the fire.

3.Grate the coconut and extract the milk by adding 1 cup of water in a mixer and keep aside . Add 1and a 1/2 cups of water to the gratings (from which milk has already been extracted) and extract coconut milk again and keep this diluted coconut milk separately.

4.Add the second extract of coconut milk first, stir well , and bring to a boil on low fire. Now turn off the heat and add the first concentrate milk. Note that after adding the first concentrate, the payasam should not be heated.

5.Heat the remaining ghee in a frying pan, fry the cashews and cardamom powder and add to the payasam for garnishing.

The jack fruit payasam is ready to be served for the feast.

Recipe forChakka Varraty/JackFruit Halwa Here:
Olan:

Olan, a traditional Sadya dish preparation which is enriched with coconut milk. Olan is the simplest and a unique dish with no spice at all in it(except green chillies) flavoured with coconut milk and coconut oil and fresh curry leaves. Yet, when made with the right ingredients in the right proportion, it tastes heavenly. usually It is made with with white pumpkin (ash gourd/winter melon) or the yellow variety and cowpeas/moongdal which makes it a very healthy diet. And it has a unique, pleasing and inviting aroma which itself make you crave for the dish

Ingredients:

YellowPumpkin – 1/4kg

Colocasia (seppankilamgu)-50 gms

Green Chillies - 4nos

MoongDal/cowpeas- 2tbs

Coconut milk-11/2 cups

Curry leaves-5-6 nos

CoconutOil-1tsp

Salt as per taste

Method:

1.Cook the seppankilangu and keep aside. Grate coconut Squeeze out 1/4cup of the milk from the coconut without adding water. Take one more cup of milk from the coconut.

2. Cook the vegetables and moongdal in water.

3. Add enough salt and the green chillies.

4. When it is done, Then add seppankilangu with 1cup coconut milk and boil.

5. When it thickens well, add 1/4cup coconut milk.

6. Bring to a boil and remove from fire.

7. Add 1tbs coconut oil and the curry leaves and mix well.