Akki Kadalebele Payasa / Rice and lentil dessert pudding

Indians are notorious for using lentils or dal in every kind of dish. It could be fritters or it could be a main dish or dessert. South Indians, in particular are famous for making many dessert puddings using lentils. This one is such a preparation. It is in fact one of the easiest and simplest desserts you can make and is not all that bad for you if you over look the sugar part. This one doesn't have too much butter/ghee which can be quite taxing on the body. Coconut gives a very nice taste, but you could reduce it by half if you are watching your coconut intake. Jaggery is an acquired taste. If you are skeptical about how it tastes, use white sugar instead. It will still be delicious.

One year back - Vegan Coconut Cookies
Two years back - Green mango, onion subzi/Curry
Ingredients:
Kadale bele/Chana dal/dehusked, split black chickpeas - 1 1/2 cups
Rice - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 1/2 cup - 2 cups or more (See Notes)
Water - 4 - 4 1/2 cups
Jaggery - 2 - 2 1/2 cups (powdered and then measured)
Cardamom - powder from 8 pods
Ghee - 3 TBSP
Broken cashews - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1/3 cup
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup - 1 cup

Method:
Dry roast lentil and rice together till nice aroma comes. Rinse well with water. Drain. Add twice the amount of water (4 cups in this case) and pressure cook for 3 whistles. When the pressure is released, take the pan out. You will see that rice is mushy and dal is soft. If you like, you can mash it roughly with a potato masher. There will still be whole dal left which is very soft.
In a pan, combine jaggery and 1/2 cup of water. Bring it to a boil stirring so that all the jaggery melts. When you see bubbles all over, add the cooked rice and dal mixture. Mix well. Bring it to a boil. Add milk, cardamom powder, grated coconut and stir. This gets thick as it cools, so adjust the liquid consistency according to your taste. Lower the heat to keep the mixture simmering. Meanwhile, heat ghee in a pan and when hot, toast cashews and raisins. Add that to the now simmering mixture of dal and rice. Stir and turn off the heat. This tastes great warm or cold.

Notes:
Some people serve this thick so that you eat with a spoon and some people serve it so that you can drink it in a cup. Adjust the milk quantity as per the need to thin out the dish. If you cannot get jaggery, you can use light brown sugar.

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