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17
Date and Almond Payasam (Vegan)
September 17, 2008 |
The past few days have involved very little cooking - just travel, work, chores. Plus, sorting out the spice rack and pantry.
We found 62 spices, some of which we didn’t know we owned. I have three criteria for tossing edibles:
** Anything that has not been used for six months.
** Anything with a superior substitute. For instance, we have four souring agents (in addition to lime juice and tamarind) - dried raw mango, sumac, dried pomegranate seeds (anardana) and kachri. The anardana and kachri got binned.
** Anything without a label that requires guesswork.
Now, the spice count is down to 51. Next are the tons of packets in the pantry. Four types of rice, other grains, three types of pasta, 12 types of beans and lentils, ten types of flours, an assortment of oils, sweeteners, flavourings, condiments, vinegars, sauces, three dozen cans of other stuff. More than the two of us can consume in a year. Then there are the fridge and freezer, bursting at the seams. It’s insane.
We have a new rule here. No grocery shopping for the next three months except for fruits, dairy, soymilk, tofu and eggs. After three months, the stuff left in the pantry gets tossed. First to be tackled was a box of plump Mejdool dates. I followed a recipe I had bookmarked a while ago - Sia’s Kharjura (Date) Payasa.
DATE and ALMOND PAYASAM
Most payasams (sweet puddings) in south India use milk and sugar. In Kerala and south Karnataka, one often finds a vegan version using coconut milk and jaggery. In Kerala, this variation is called ‘pradhaman‘.
As I opened the refrigerator to get coconut milk powder, I saw the jar of nut butter. Lately, it has been sneaking into everything.
The almond butter makes an already delectable dish creamier and tastier. (Here’s how to make your own.) Peanut butter would work as well.
This is a lazy microwave version of Sia’s recipe. We absolutely loved it.
(Serves 4)
Microwave
1 packed cup pitted and chopped dates with
1 cup water
partially covered on HIGH until the dates are soft (5 to 6 minutes).
Add
1/3 cup powdered jaggery (or brown sugar), and
1 tiny pinch of salt
**omit the salt if your nut butter is salted
stir and microwave for another 2 minutes until it has dissolved completely.
Cool a bit and blend to a smooth paste with
1 cup lite coconut milk
**or 1/4 cup coconut milk powder and 2/3 cup water
1 heaped tablespoon almond (or peanut) butter
Check the sweetness and consistency. Add more jaggery if you wish and a bit of water if you want it thinner.
Put it back in the microwave on HIGH for three minutes.
Shell and powder three green cardamoms.
Stir in the cardamom powder. A pinch of dried ginger can be added if you wish.
Garnish with toasted, slivered almonds. Serve warm or chilled.
This is our entry for Zlamushka’s Tried and Tasted event, where the blog of the month is warm, witty, wonderful Sia’s Monsoon Spice.
- b.
Almond, Coconut, coconut-milk, Date, Jaggery, Karnataka, payasam, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes
Looks healthy..living in California our grocery store has fresh dates in plenty.Will try this..Looks tempting..
U guys took any emergency stock up plan
The way all the almonds stay on top, i can wonder how thick and creamy the payasam is 
Beautiful entry.
Oh! I can relate to too much produce in the house! This is a lovely use of the dates…I also have a packet of medjool dates that need to be used up…great idea.
Medjols + Coconut milk + almonds - whats not to like about
wouldn’t it be too sweet with added jaggery?
not really.
I had same situation at my home. Most of the things went into waste bin. I have stopped going to grocery shopping now :).
I have a big pack of dates which needs to be used. I will try this.
pradhaman! my absolute favourite! went to a restaurant in singapore for onam but the pradhaman was just so-so. my mom made pazha pradhaman this year and i was drooling over the phone when she told me.. sigh..
62 SPICES??!!
I wonder how many I have…hmm.
Ya know..I hate dumping the stuff in the bin. It just feels like such a waste, but I do it when I need to of course.
I get annoyed with myself when I buy too much produce and then have no time to cook or eat it.
Nice dish. I lurve every component in this recipe.Will try this out soon.
We cleaned our pantry 2 weekends ago and yeah a lot went to the bin. I am not going to the store either and veggies are going to come to our doorstep from Farm Fresh. This will eliminate me from buying things that I fantasize cooking and never do;)
I kept reading the recipe to see when you would add cardamom. A paysam without elakai, very interesting!
i did add cardamom. just forgot to mention it. thanks for pointing it out. i have edited the recipe now.
Oh yeah… From 62 to 51! Whoo hoo!!
Obviously since I haven’t really lived, I’ve never heard of Payasam before. It looks so rich and delicious!
Yeah I did a similar dump-in-the-bin excercise last weekend. I had few packaets of flavored agar-agar, a tin of cocoa powder (very old) and some other ingredients needed for baking (used to buy them when inspired by a recipe in a blog and would forgot to make it or procrastinate). I was really sad indeed
The pradhaman looks very inviting.
Are you kidding me! I did not even know there were 62 spices in existence. Shame on me. The payasam looks absolutely wonderful!
I am dead with joy!Firstly due to ur comment on my blog….(wow dear….u just made my day…..not a day….many days to come….)and secondly when nowadays i keep hearing that i am not alone on this planet who has ignored basic house chores,cleaning,TOSSING pantry,and failing to decide what to do with the umpteen number of spices/ingredients ,sobbing in the corner of refrigerator…all for the joy of blogging !
The problem with me,is that when i decide to try a recipe,i buy ingredients ,but those always doesn’t get fully utilized.So then depending upon the ingredients left,i hunt for recipes,just to finish the stock…but alas i m not always successful,and my heart bleeds when finally after few months of hibernation in refrigerator,all those ingredients die a cruel death in bin
Oh i forgot to write about payasam..any sweet dish that doesn’t call for sugar is a blessed recipe for me….love to use jaggery as its substitute …So this goes in my bookmarked recipes !
Bee, there are 62 spices? I use only a few n totally ignorant to the rest!
The dates payasam looks very delectable!
Makes it more unique wt almond butter!
This is my all time fav payasa..very nice
yummy looking Payasam..
You have that much of stuff stored away? That’s some revelation.:)
Pradhaman in the MW, interesting. And with peanut butter. You’re going to shock traditionalists! I think I’m going to like it.
It is a pity to see edibles going into waste bin when half the world is suffering from food shortage!
Please avoid food wastage!
Hmmm. I tend not to waste much; instead, I get truly disciplined when a category gets overloaded. Right now I am on a legume “use-down”, meaning that the only bean I will allow myself to buy are kabuli chana (because I can’t imagine life without them). Therefore, I am forced to use the others in creative ways. All I know is that I am thankful that the pinto beans are finally down from their one-time height of…lots. (stocked up for Y2K you know?)
Many pickles keep a long, long time…and I don’t care how soft they get. But you know what? I have you waaaaay beat with spices; I have over 100. But ask me how long its been since I’ve used grains of paradise or dried, sliced krachai!
The payasam? Brilliant.
I too have had only the pradaman with jaggery and coconut milk - in fact I made it on Onam! This seems to be a tasty version.
What a delightful recipe…simply adore dates.
And yes, i too have been on a ‘tidy the pantry’ mission
peanut butter??? tsk, tsk,… what all those sari clad maami’s will think!!!
this one and the semiya payasa are the only two which i manage to eat. yup, i am not a big fan of sweets and it also shows in my archives
and loved the idea of adding almond butter is a better idea, infact i simply loved it. gonna tell Amma abt it. and before i forget, thank u for trying this recipe
You know I was always curious what stuff is in your pantry
Glad to know now.
bee, do you think I can get anardana in Asian grocery stores? Let me check the one out in here… or, where is your garbage bin
yeah, in indian stores.
And I’m the one eating my heart out about overflowing pantries and leftovers?
Oh yes i should do like you, clean up my shelfs, they are just over flowing with spiced and dried herbs etc…..
Wow no grocerry shopping for next three months, if i tell my hubby i am going to do that, he will jumb up and down thinking about the savings i will make :-))))))))
Me too - I sometimes have a “no shop” rule to get my pantry down a bit, and then I go and fill it up again cos I can’t resist buying great food.
My husband and I are in month two of our pantry cleanup, prompted by the discovery of numerous duplicates, freezer bursting at the seams and a general lack of knowledge regarding what we even have. How many boxes of biryani masala does one need, after all?! We’re limited to purchases of salad mix, onion, tomato and milk and we’re slowly chipping away at the inventory. We naively thought it’d take a month to get rid of it all, but we can probably make it another couple of months!
The massive oversupply is not limited to foodstuffs. Cost
Everyone needs to go read this fantastic blog about life on a farm in a remote part of Tanzania. She does an amazing amount of pantry, freezer and meal planning!
This sounds all too familiar. Some ingredients whose names I don’t even remember anymore (they were bought from bulk-bins) are saved in the hope that I will use them at some point. I’ve made up my mind not to buy any more lentils or beans unless our current supply is depleted - even if that means making sambar out of pinto beans.
And this recipe is perfect to use up the dates left from making Shilpa’s awesome date cake.
62! R U kidding me? I didn’t know there were so many!
I have to clean up too.. just don’t have the energy to!
The payasam looks heavenly!
This is perfect. I have a pack of dates lying around waiting to me made into mamoul (not gonna happen, lovelies), but the payasam should make them happy. Almonds and dates..made for each other.
Lurve this picture. I have learnt so much about taking pictures from your blog. Thank you.
Dear bee,
Thanks a lot for the wishes! I see that I have missed so much in your blog sice a year. will have to catch up slowly:)
Hello Bee,
My pantry is a mess… I too should do some major sorting.
I have never had a pudding like the one you posted. It sounds wonderful and I love all the ingredients it contains. I will have to add it to my must-try list. Have a great weekend!
Wow! That’s a lot of spices. Great job cleaning up. I need to do the same.
Paz
It took me a few weekends to sort all that I had in the diff. cupboards, pantry and stocked away in the basement. Now I have it all on an excel sheet and try to update it often so I know what I have and by when it needs to get used
That payasam looks soo good.
sounds like an interesting dish - I had to buy dates recently and could only get an oversized bag so fear they could linger longer than they should - am impressed with you tidying out your pantry - I should do mine as my grains shelf is out of control! Would love to see a list of your 62 spices - the mind boggles
Tossed?! What a shame! Next time I suggest you DONATE your food to food-drives that happen at your local library, schools, shelter homes or such. A quick search on google should direct you to the right place.
Do NOT throw your food in the bins.
After reading this I also did a pantry raid and found a lot of pasta in different colors/shapes, so many types of beans. I’m also going to follow your rule of not buying anything extra for another 3 months.
looks good…i have some peanut butter that’s finding no takers….i also need a day or two without din to clean out my pantry….will have to wait a week more….imposing a “no more grocery shopping till we clean this out” works for me too….and throws up some very interesting stuff at the table
Looks delicious,but I doubt the peanut butter would taste as good as the almond butter you have used…
Miri