Russet vermicelli roasted in ghee until nutty, then softened in coconut milk with jaggery and cardamom. A payasam gentle enough for breakfast.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Navara Red Rice Vermicelli 180 g (1 pack)
Fresh
- Thin coconut milk 2 cups
- Thick coconut milk ½ cup
- Jaggery, grated ⅓ cup
- Cardamom powder ½ tsp
- Cashew halves 12
- Raisins 2 tbsp
- Ghee 2 tbsp
- Salt a pinch
Method
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Fry the garnish
Fry the cashews in ghee until gold, add the raisins and lift them out the moment they puff. Reserve the ghee in the pan.
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Roast the vermicelli
Break the Sprouted Navara Red Rice Vermicelli into the same ghee and roast on low until it smells distinctly nutty and deepens in colour.
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Simmer in thin milk
Pour in the thin coconut milk and cook on a low flame for six to eight minutes until the strands are soft and the liquid has thickened.
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Melt the jaggery
Dissolve the jaggery in three tablespoons of hot water separately, then strain it in — this keeps any grit out of the porridge.
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Finish off the heat
Switch off, stir in the thick coconut milk, cardamom and salt. Boiling thick coconut milk will split it.
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Garnish and serve
Scatter over the fried cashews and raisins. It thickens on standing, so loosen with warm milk if serving later.
Why this works
Roasting the vermicelli in ghee before liquid goes in sets the surface starch so the strands soften without dissolving into mush. Adding jaggery as a strained syrup after cooking avoids curdling the coconut milk with its acidity. Reserving the thick coconut milk for the end keeps the emulsion intact and gives the porridge its silky finish.
Make it your own
- Sprouted Navara Red Rice Vermicelli → Sprouted Ragi Vermicelli Maltier and darker, equally good with jaggery and coconut.
- Jaggery → Chopped dates blended into the milk Removes the added sweetener; slightly thicker body.
- Ghee → Coconut oil Fully plant-based and more overtly coastal in flavour.
