Payasam or kheer(rice)

• Rice - ½ cup
• Water - 10 cups or more
• Jaggery - 1 cup or as required
• Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
• Sugar - 4 tsp
• Salt - a pinch
• Coconut - 1 ½ cup
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Cashew nut - to garnish

1. Soak rice for half an hour.
2. Now grind it with coconut nicely.
3. In a kadai add the ghee and roast the cashewnut and keep aside.
4. In another kadai put the jaggery and little water so that it dissolves. Now filter it to remove the dirt and keep a side.
5. In another kadai put this rice paste, salt, sugar and jaggery, mix it well.
6. Continua sly stir it so that it won't stick down, till it thickens.
7. Now add the cashewnut and serve it hot or cold.

Bebinca
(rich, layered pudding)1 kg castor sugar
3 cups coconut milk (extract of 2 coconuts)
20 egg yolks
100 gm flour
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp cardamom essence
1 cup clarified butter (ghee)

Mix the castor sugar with the coconut milk till dissolved. Beat egg yolks till creamy, and add to the coconut milk and mix the flour in it thoroughly, without any lumps. Add this to the mixture of coconut milk, sugar and eggs, along with the nutmeg and cardamom. Take a deep pan, about 6 inch in diameter and put a tablespoon of clarified butter in it. Put it under a grill ( medium heat ). Take it out of the grill and pour enough butter into the pan to cover the bottom about 1/2 inch in thickness. Put under the grill for about 2 minutes and let it cook till it is deep brown in colour. Remove from grill, put a dessert spoonful of clarified butter over the cooked layer, following it with enough batter to cover the first layer, about 1/4 inch thick.
Repeat this process till all the batter and clarified butter has been used up in the same way. The batter must always be in the same proportion. The last layer has to be the clarified butter. When cool, turn out onto a dish, keeping the first layer face down. Decorate the last layer with a few slivers of toasted almonds if desired. To serve, cut into thin slices

Vermicelli kheer or Payasam

• Vermicelli - 1cup
• Ghee - 2tbsp
• Milk - 4cup
• Water - 2cup
• Sugar - 1 or 1/2 cup
• Sabudhana or Jawarisi or sago - 1/4 to 1/2cup
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Cashew nut - 10
• Raisins - 10

1. In a kadai put the vermicelli in the ghee until golden brown colour. Keep it aside.
2. In the same kadai fry the sago till it pop up. Keep this also a side.
3. Fry the cashew and raisins. Keep aside.
4. In a vessel boil the water. To this add the sago and cook it well. Till it become transparent.
5. In another vessel boil the milk. Add the fried vermicelli and cook for 10 - 15 minutes.
6. Now add the boiled sago, sugar,raisins,cashew and cardamom powder.
7. Mix  well, boil for at least 5 minutes.
8. Now it is ready to serve.