Pal Payasam

Pal Payasam is a traditional dessert .It is prepared on special occasions and festivals. This recipe of the pal payasam or the kheer is very simple to prepare and  very tasty recipe The best  taste for Pal Payasam is when the raw rice is cooked in milk on slow heat in heavy bottomed vessel or in pressure cooker which turns out very light pinkish in color finally. I usually prepares it by boiling the rice in milk over stove top which is very time consuming but it adds a nice creamy taste .There are two ways of making it. First, one where you reduce the milk to half by heating it and then adding sugar.The second one is where you reduce the milk a little and then adding condensed milk which makes it thicker and tastier.When you are using condensed milk there is no need to add sugar. . But now a days I prepare PalPayasam in Pressure cooker.

Ingredients

Milk    -   1lr/ 6 Cups

Rice     -   1⁄4 Cup

Sugar   -  1 Cup

Method:

 Pour the milk into cooker and bring it to boiling be sure that the cooker is only 1/2 or little more than 1/2 filled and not fully filled.

Add washed rice into this and stir well.

Now close the cooker with the whistle! And leave the flame in Simmer for exactly 20 min and turn the gas off. (Don’t have to worry about the number of whistles.)

Open the cooker after the steam is released completely.

Keep it on stove with full flame and allow boiling for 5 min.

 Once rice gets cooked now add sugar and mix for 2 mins till the sugar is dissolved stir it well.

 Delicious palpayasam is ready to be served .Garnish with aromatic spices.

  

Note: Adjust the quantity of milk and sugar given here as per your taste.. You can add sugar anytime if you feel the sweet is less.

Snowmen Butter Cookies

As December is the month of Christmas, This month's Home Baker's Challenge was hosted by Priya of Cook Like Priya she had suggested three cookies recipes, two cakes and two bread recipes. We were to choose any of the given recipes. Snowmen.  Who doesn’t love to build/bake a snowman?  These are soooo adorable cookies....So I loved to Bake this snow man cookies. Snowmen are always so cute with their carrot noses, scarfs and top hats. These snowmen are simple and fun to make and the dough is easy to shape. I loved the look of this snow men cookie.These cookies are  easy to make very Crisp, fragile, and buttery tasting and adorable...

Okay, on to my super cute snowmen cookies…

Ingredients

All-purpose flour- 21/4 cup

Butter, softened- 1 cup

Sugar-1/2 cup

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Milk- 1 tbsp

Food coloring- Red & Green Or to your choice

Miniature chocolate chips

 

Method:

1.In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well.

2.Place 1/2 cup of dough in each of two bowls, reserving balance in separate bowl. Add red food coloring to one bowl and mix thoroughly.Small orange dough for nose.

3.Add green food coloring to one bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape the uncolored dough into twelve 1-inch balls and twelve 1 1/2-inch balls.

4.For snowmen, shape white dough into twelve 1-inch balls and twelve 1 1/2-inch balls. Place one smaller ball above one larger ball to form the snowman body and head.

5.For each snowman, then form the hat and the scarf.

 

6.Make hats with coloured dough.Shape red dough into 12  ball For hat, roll 1-inch ball and a flat disk for brim. Place on head. Place triangles above heads for hats; attach in white balls for tassels.

7.For scarf, shape 1/4 teaspoon of each color of dough into a 3 inch rope and Make two small ropes one with red and one with green, twist them together and twist together. Place scarf around snowman's neck.

 

8.Shape orange dough into noses and Add chocolate chip eyes and buttons.

9.Bake at 180 degree for 10 to 13minutes or until set. Cool for 2 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks. Store in an air tight container.