Aval Payasam

Today is Krishna Jayanthi. It is Lord Krishna's birthday. Lord Krishna is very fond of butter and aval. There is a story of friendship which also talks about the liking Lord Krishna has towards aval. Sudama, who is very poor comes to see his friend Lord Krishna who is the King of Mathura, Sudama's wife sends some aval for Krishna. Sudama brings it wrapped in an old cloth. When Sudama reaches Mathura to meet Lord Krishna, the guards at the gate cannot believe he is the friend of their king. They send a messenger inside the palace to inform Lord Krishna about the visitor. When Krishna heard the name Sudama, he immediately gets up from his throne and comes running to see his friend and welcomes him with a big hug.
Sudama is very happy to see Krishna and vice versa. Lord Krishna asks Sudama - what did he bring for Lord Krishna. Sudama is very ashamed to take out the aval which is wrapped in an old cloth. Still Krishna gets it out of Sudama and eats the aval happily.. Lord Krishna loves aval very much. When Lord Krishna eats a few handful of the aval, all the problems of Sudama is vanished.
There are many sweets and savories made on this day to celebrate Krishna Jayanthi. Simplest is this aval payasam which can be done in a jiffy and is also Lord Krishna's favorite.







Ingredients
Aval / Poha - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Water - 2 cups
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tea spoon
Edible Camphor - A pinch (optional)
Cashew - 10
Raisins - 10
Ghee / Clarified Butter - 1 table spoon
Milk - 2 cups
Method
Soak the aval in water for 10 minutes. It will absorb a lot of the water and will become soft
Heat ghee in a pan and roast the cashew until golden, add the raisins and sauté for another 10 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside
Bring milk to a boil and add the soaked aval and cook for around 5 minutes stirring occasionally until the aval is fully cooked.
Add cardamom powder, edible camphor and remove from heat
Heat a pan and add 2 table spoons water and jaggery and allow the jaggery to melt
Filter the jaggery to remove impurities
Reheat the jaggery water and once it comes to a rolling boil, switch off the flame and allow it to cool for 10 minutes
Add the jaggery water to the aval mixture and garnish with the roasted cashew and raisins
Aval Payasam is ready!


Sending this to my own event – Anniversary event, South Indian Cooking Series #1, Know your natural Sweetness - Jaggery, Jagruti's page, Month Of Shravan,  Celebrate - Indian Sweets, Surabhi's let's party, Preeti's page