Vazhaithandu Payasam (Banana Stem Kheer)

Published 2016-Feb-22 Updated 2017-Dec-03

- Submitted by Dahlia

(Banana Stem Payasam, Vazhapindi Pradhaman, Banana Stem Pudding)

Vazhathandu Payasam

Have you ever thought of making kheer or payasam with banana stalk? I'm sure many of you might not have even heard of it. Even I didn't have a clue about this payasam until I tasted it once in a Malayalee wedding. Malayalees are very fond of making varieties of payasam as part of their sadya meal. They are capable of making an excellent payasam with pretty much any vegetable or fruit.

I was pleasantly surprised the very first time I tasted banana stem payasam. The banana stem has a natural crunch which tastes so good with the creamy coconut milk. Moong dal and sago are added to give the thickness to the payasam. If you plan to make a North Indian style kheer, you can cook the banana stem pieces in milk and sweeten with sugar. In South India, payasam is mostly made with coconut milk and sweetened with jaggery. Either way you make, I'm sure you will enjoy the dish. So here is the recipe that I followed to make my banana stem payasam.

Ingredients

Banana stem - 1 cup (chopped)
Moong dal - 3 tbsp
Sago – 3 tbsp
Thin coconut milk – 2 cups
Thick coconut milk – 1/2 cup
Water – 2 cups
Jaggery/ Sugar – ½ cup
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Dry ginger powder – ¼ tsp
Ghee – 3- 4 tbsp
Cashews – 7-8
Raisins – 1 tbsp

Method

Take the sago and moong dal in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the water and cook it on medium flame for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped banana stem and the thin coconut milk. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
Add the jaggery/sugar to this. I usually prefer the taste of jaggery for payasam but you can make with sugar too. If the jaggery has impurities, melt it in a separate sauce pan, strain it and then add it to this. In this picture, I've made the payasam with sugar since I did not have jaggery on hand. There is a picture that I clicked some time back when I had made with jaggery below.
Continue cooking till it thickens to the right consistency. At this stage add the thick coconut milk.
Add 2 tbsp of ghee, cardamom powder and dry ginger powder. Mix everything, cook for just a minute and switch off.
Heat the remaining ghee in a small pan and toast the cashews and raisins. Add this to the payasam. Tasty payasam (kheer) is ready to serve.

Vazhathandu Payasam

Serving Suggestion

Banana Stem Payasam (Pradhaman/Kheer) can be served either hot or cold as a dessert. You can make this any day for an evening snack or for some occasions.
In South Indian sadhya, payasam is typically served after a meal. After enjoying the payasam, people have some moru and rice.

Variation

As I have mentioned before, banana stem payasam can be made using either sugar or jaggery. You can choose as per your taste buds. Vazhaithandu payasam made with jaggery will be brownish in color and the one made with sugar will be whitish in color. See the photos below.