Parippu payasam Pradhaman or Kerala Moong Dal Payasam is a delicious dessert made with yellow split mung lentils, jaggery, coconut bits, nuts, raisins, and coconut milk with an infused flavor of cardamom. This traditional dessert offers a taste and flavor beyond description, one that can only be appreciated by those who’ve tasted it. Simply said, it’s an unforgettable treat!
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Why is the Parippu Pradhaman so loved?
- This is a jaggery-based sweet, and the combination of split moong dal, coconut milk, fried coconut bits, nuts, raisins, and jaggery enlivens the taste buds just like jaggery-based sweets like neyyappam, unniappam from the unniyappam recipe, kayappam, and ela ada.
- We use Coconut milk instead of milk as in regular payasam like semiya payasam or matta rice payasam, so folks who are not big fans of dairy or milk-based sweets will love this.
- The coconut bits fried in ghee, along with cashews and raisins, take the payasam to a whole new level of flavor and richness.
- A great dessert to make and serve your loved ones, guests, and family.
- This dessert is made especially on special occasions and festivals like Onam and Vishu and is usually part of the sadya feast along with aviyal recipe kerala style, beet root kichadi, 'olan kerala recipe' , puli inji and other items.
The various names for this payasam-'Parippu Pradhaman', 'Dal Payasam', 'Sharkara Pradhaman' and 'Cherupayar Payasam' all originate from the local language Malayalam and refer to the same delicacy.
The other names for split yellow mung bean are parippu, moong, and cherupayar, while jaggery is sharkara. These ingredients in various combinations give the dish different names! If you love this traditional payasam, you may also like matta rice payasam and Vermicelli Paysam.
What goes into this recipe?
- Yellow split moong lentils or dal - roasted and washed well.
- Jaggery or molasses use the dark variety for a dark brown color.
- Coconut milk Grate coconut and extract milk from it or use store-bought to simplify the process.
- Cashew nuts and raisins (golden or black) roasted in ghee.
- Coconut bits, cut into small pieces.
- Green Cardamon, powdered finely.
How to make Parippu Payasam or Moong dal payasam?
The highlight of this dish is coconut milk, and it is best to use coconut milk extracted from fresh or frozen grated coconut. Using coconut milk from the can, of course, makes great dishes like curry chicken with coconut milk, Thai Red curry chicken, and Thai Green curry chicken, but may not give an authentic taste for the payasam.
You will need to extract coconut milk three times. This is to get coconut milk with varied thicknesses. The milk extracted the third time is the most diluted one and is used first. This is the milk that is very thin in consistency. In the second stage, slightly thicker milk is used, and lastly, the thickest milk, extracted first, is used.
How to extract coconut milk?
To extract coconut milk from grated coconut, blend the grated coconut in a blender with lukewarm water. Strain the contents and get the first milk into a bowl using a strainer. This will be quite thick and creamy.
After straining the first time, add lukewarm water to the already squeezed grated coconut to extract the second milk.
Repeat the process to extract the third milk. Finally, you will have three bowls of coconut milk with varying thicknesses, the first being the thickest, the second thicker, and the third the thinnest.
Roasting the dal
Steps 1- 3: Roast the Yellow split Moong Dal on a low flame until it turns medium dark brown and cool it to room temperature.
Step 4: Wash the roasted dal.
Extract coconut milk and cook the dal
Steps 5-6: To extract coconut milk, grind grated coconut with lukewarm water and squeeze it three times to get three different varieties of milk, thick, medium, and thin, each more diluted than the last.
Steps 7-8: Cook the dal with the thick milk that was extracted last for one whistle.
Add Coconut milk from the second extraction and jaggery and fry toppings
Steps 9-10: Add the coconut milk extracted the second time, the one that is medium thick, to the cooked dal along with jaggery and cook well until the jaggery dissolves.
Steps 11-12: Fry the coconut bits, cashews, and raisins in ghee.
Add Coconut milk from the third extraction and fried toppings
Steps 13-14: Fry the coconut bits, nuts, and raisins till they turn brown and keep aside.
Steps 15-16: Add the coconut milk extracted last, powdered cardamom, dry ginger powder, and cumin powder, along with the fried coconut bits, nuts, and raisins, and mix well.
Useful Tips
- Roast the lentils well till they get a nice golden brown color.
- It is also important that the moong dal cooks well. However, it should not get completely mushy or remain hard.
- I normally pressure cook the lentils for one whistle or cook them on a stove top.
- We cook the lentils in the third milk extract, and we add the rest of the milk extractions at a later stage.
- Use Jaggery with a dark brown color if available to get an authentic dark color for the dish.
- Fry the coconut bits and nuts in ghee till brown.
- Some folks also skip the coconut milk extraction step to simplify the cooking and substitute it with canned unsweetened coconut milk. You can dilute the milk from the can by adding water as necessary for the extracted first milk, second milk, and third milk, and it turns out good as well, but I haven't tried that.
Recipe FAQs
For the best and authentic taste, use fresh coconut milk from grated coconut. If using canned coconut milk, dilute it to mimic the first, second, and third extractions as instructed in the recipe.
You can add half a tin of coconut milk to a bowl and dilute with 2 cups of water to get third milk extraction and the other half with 1 cup of water to get second milk extraction and the milk from the can as is for first milk extraction.
The authentic recipe calls for adding coconut milk, but you can use regular milk as well.
Yellow split moong dal or cherupayar parippu is best in making this payasam.
Related Recipes
If you tried this Parippu Payasam Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing from you!
Parippu Payasam
Ingredients
- 2 cups moong dal split yellow
- 2 cups coconut grated
- 2 cups jaggery add more if you prefer sweeter (5-6 small blocks)
- ¾ cup coconut bits
- 10-12 cashews
- 10-12 raisins
- 5-6 cardamom
- ¼ tsp dry ginger powder optional
- ¼ tsp cumin powder optional
Instructions
- Take 2 cups of grated coconut and 1 cup of warm water and blend n a blender.
- Strain the contents in a strainer and the extract called the first milk can be strained into a bowl which is quite thick.
- Next, take the coconut from the strainer add a cup of water and blend again.
- Strain the contents again and extract the second milk into another bowl which is a little thinner than the first milk.
- Repeat this process and extract the third milk into another bowl, this is the most diluted milk compared to the other two extractions.
- Keep all of it aside and ready before the dish preparation.
- Dry roast the split yellow moong dal beans in a pan till you get a nice brown color.
- Once roasted , cool and wash it.
- Next cook it with a cup of water, along with the third coconut milk extracted either in a pressure cooker for one whistle or in a deep-bottomed vessel.
- When it is half cooked, add jaggery with a pinch of salt.
- Next, add the second coconut milk that was extracted.
- Cook for about 10 -15 minutes till it is almost well cooked and mushy.
- Next, add the powdered cardamom seeds. Optionally you can also add the cumin and dry ginger powder.
- Finally, add the first extracted coconut milk which is thick and creamy.
- Heat for another 2 minutes and switch off the flame.
- Take 2 - 3 tsp ghee and fry the coconut pieces, cashews, and raisins
- Add it to the payasam.
Notes
- Roast the lentils well till they get a nice golden brown color.
- It is also important that the moong dal cooks well. However, it should not get completely mushed up or remain uncooked.
- I normally pressure cook the lentils for one whistle or cook them on a stove top till the desired consistency is obtained.
- The lentils are first cooked in the third milk extract, and the rest of the milks are added at a later stage as described in the recipe.
- Use Jaggery with a dark brown color if available to get an authentic dark color for the dish.
- Fry the coconut bits and nuts in ghee till brown.
- Some folks also skip the coconut milk extraction step to simplify the cooking and substitute it with canned unsweetened coconut milk. You can dilute the milk from the can by adding water as necessary for the extracted first milk, second milk, and third milk, and it turns out good as well, but I haven't tried that.
It looks yummy and mouthwatering.
This one sounds like such a comforting meal for wintertime. Yum!
Thank you Christy , it sure is a delicious dessert and comforting as well.
something for me...yummy 😋
Great to hear that Ray, it tastes really awesome!
Drooling on this! Can't wait for a sadhya to come😍
Thank you so much, it's a favorite at our home as well ..I know its the best part of the sadhya 🙂
This sounds delicious!
Thank you so much!
My favorite. It looks delicious 👍
Thank you so much Priya! 🙂
Looks yummy!!
Thank you so much Shreya!
I simply love this! My favourite.. your post has triggered my cravings.. making it tomorrow 😀
Happy to hear that, Thank you so much Lavs!
It is looking mouthwatering...I never heard of it..but it is a very interesting recipe..Thanks for sharing..will try it definitely..
Thank you so much Anshu! I would love to hear how it turned out 🙂
Ya definitely i will tell you how it came..
Payasam looks so delicious! Literally mouthwatering recipe! Love it, it's my favorite❣️
Thank you so much Latha, happy to hear it is your favorite as well.
I like this kheer too. It is yummy.
Meena
That's awesome, the combination of flavors of the dal , coconut milk and jaggery is delicious.Thank you Meena!
I have had this dessert in delhi once. I loved it. Looks yummy.
Thanks Pooja, it's one of my favorites as well! happy to hear you like it!
I love it.
Love this coconut milk payasam!
Thank you so much Megala!