Payasam

Payasam is made across South India, from milk-and-vermicelli versions to thick, dal-based ones on festival menus. The everyday version is this one: rice simmered in milk, sweetened with jaggery, warm and slightly loose. The rice here is sona masoori, the soft medium grain that breaks down gently in milk; our guide to rice (chawal) covers the grain itself.

The proportions are one litre of milk to a quarter cup of rice, which gives a spoonable payasam that thickens as it cools. Jaggery goes in only after the rice is soft and the pot is off the heat, because milk boiled with jaggery can curdle. Sugar works in place of jaggery, and a spoon of ghee at the table makes it richer.

Two dal variations come from the same pot. For a moong dal jaggery payasam, use half a cup of split yellow moong dal instead of the rice and pressure cook it for 3 to 4 whistles in a cup of water before the milk goes in. For a chana dal jaggery payasam, soak half a cup of chana dal for an hour and pressure cook it for 4 to 5 whistles in a cup and a half of water, then follow the same steps. Both come out thicker than the rice version, with the dal's bite under the milk.